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V 



MARYLAND 



A DESCRIPTION OF ITS 

LANDS, PRODUCTS AND 
INDUSTRIES 




1908 



Compiled by 

T. J. C. WILLIAMS 

For the Board of Public Works 



/ 






AUSTIN L. CROTHERS, 
GOVERNOR. 



THE STATE OF 

MARYLAND 

A DESCRIPTION OF ITS 

LANDS, PRODUCTS AND 
INDUSTRIES 




COMPILED BY 

T. J. C. WILLIAMS 

FOR THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS 



1908 



BALTIMORE 

THE SUN JOB PRINTING OFFICE 

1908 






D. OF 0. 



MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENTS. 



BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS. 

Austin L. Crothers, Governor of Maryland. 

Joshua W. Hering, Comptroller of the Treasury. 

Murray Vandiver, Treasurer. 



STATE ROAD COMMISSION. 

(Charged by the Act of 1908 with constructing a system of 
highways throughout the State for which an appropriation of 
$5,000,000 was made). 

Governor Austin L. Crothers. 

John M. Tucker, Chairman. 
Ira Remsen. S. M. Shoemaker. 

Wm. Bullock Clark. Francis C. Hutton. 

Walter W. Crosby, Chief Engineer. 

E. F. Ruggles, 1st Assistant. 

W. D. Uhler, 2nd Assistant. 

J. C. Bowerman, Secretary. 



STATE BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION. 

Office, 11 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore. 

Dr. M. Whitehill, President. 

Dr. W. Frank Hines, Superintendent. 

J. Boon Dukes, Commissioner. 

A. F. Trappe, Secretary. 



BUREAU OF INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS. 

Office, Baltimore. 

Chief of Bureau, Charles J. Fox. 
Assistant, Chas. Francis Baughman. 



MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

Office, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 

COMMISSION. 

Governor — Austin L. Crothers. 

Comptroller — Joshua W. Hering. 
President Maryland Agricultural College — R. W. Silvester, 

College Park. 
President Johns Hopkins University — Ira Remsen, Baltimore. 

SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 

State Geologist — William Bullock Clark. 

Assistant State Geologist — Edward B. Mathews. 

Highway Engineer — W. "W. Crosby, 



PREFACE. 

The first edition of this little volume compiled by the 
undersigned was authorized by the General Assembly 
in 1906, and ordered by the Board of Public Works 
for distribution at the Jamestown Exposition in 1907. 
It served a good purpose there and copies of it were 
eagerly received by those to whom it was offered and 
sought after by others. In this way it was widely 
circulated throughout the United States. The State 
Bureau of Immigration was pleased to consider it of 
value and the General Assembly, in 1908, made pro- 
vision for this present edition for the use of the Immi- 
gration Bureau as a compact and handy guide-book 
to the State, giving the kind of information which a 
stranger, coming into the Slate or thinking of coming 
into the State, would desire. In the compilation of this 
volume free use has been made of the Reports of the 
Maryland Bureau of Statistics and of the Reports of 
the State Geological Survey, Dr. W. Bullock Clark, 
Geologist. Most of the illustrations were supplied also 
by the Geological Survey. The compilation in no zuise 
pretends to be a history of the State. 

T. J. C. WILLIAMS. 
Baltimore, 1908. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter Page 

I — What Maryland Has to Offer to the Immigrant 7 

II — A General Description of Maryland 12 

III — Mines and Quarries 32 

IV— Soils 44 

V — The Chesapeake Bay 53 

VI — Road Improvement and Laws 63 

VII — Geological Survey and Other State Agencies.... 77 

VIII — Educational System 88 

IX — The Capital of Maryland 93 

X — Baltimore City 106 

XI — The Counties 118 

XII — Members of the Board of Public Works 170 

XIII — Statistics of Population 181 



THE STATE OF MARYLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 



WHAT MARYLAND HAS TO OFFER TO THE 
IMMIGRANT. 

It is the object of this book to inform the people of 
other States of conditions in Maryland, with a view to 
attracting desirable citizens to the State. To that end 
the General Assembly of the State authorized the work 
and the Board of Public Works ordered it to be printed. 
It will be distributed free of charge by the State Board 
of Immigration among people who are interested in the 
subject. There are many farmers in the northern or 
northwestern States, remote from markets and suffer- 
ing from the severities of an inclement climate, who 
would be glad to sell their property and make their 
homes in Maryland where all the conditions are favor- 
able, the climate mild and equable, lands cheap and 
markets close at hand. It seems almost incredible to 
the farmer upon lands selling at $100 an acre that 
there should be good and fertile, well improved farms 
within ten or twenty miles of the capital of the United 
States to be had at from one-fifth to one-half the price 
of prairie lands in Iowa. Maryland's invitation to 
agricultural immigrants with some capital, is sincere 
and alluring. She offers good lands easily improved 
at very low prices. The products of these lands are 
within easy reach of railroads or steamboats, or both. 
There is a choice of the best markets in the land. 



8 The State of Maryland. 

Baltimore is the natural and principal market town for 
the whole State and lines of transportation from every 
quarter of the State lead to it. But there is a choice 
of markets. The western counties send much of their 
fruit to Pittsburg; the Eastern Shore can reach Phila- 
delphia in a few hours and New York in a few hours 
more, while two of the counties bind upon the city 
of Washington and largely supply its markets with 
poultry, fruit, vegetables, hay and corn. 

All classes of farmers can find locations in the State 
suitable for the class of agriculture to which they may 
be accustomed. The farmer who has made it his 
business to cultivate the staple crops cannot go amiss 
in Maryland. In nearly all of the counties corn is 
abundantly produced as well as wheat. Some of the 
finest and most productive wheat lands in the country 
are found in the central and western counties and on 
the Eastern Shore. In the southern counties on the 
Western Shore tobacco is the chief crop, but the land is 
admirably adapted to the cultivation of fruit, such as 
apples, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries 
and all manner of vegetables and melons. The lower 
counties of the Eastern Shore also grow vast quantities 
of small fruit and in the valleys between the mountains 
in Garrett and Allegany counties the finest Irish pota- 
toes grow. In most of the counties grass can be pro- 
duced and cattle and sheep successfully grazed. In 
Southern Maryland the farms are large and the land- 
owners without sufficient capital, and they are there- 
fore willing to sell their surplus acres at a very small 
price. This section of the State offers the strongest 
inducements to farmers with small capital. Often 



Attractions to Settlers. y 

farms can be bought for less than the cost of the 
improvements. 

What adds vastly to the attraction of these farms in 
Maryland is the fact that they are in a State distin- 
guished for the maintenance of good order, for the 
excellence of its common, free schools, for the 
abundance of its churches, for its colleges and libra- 
ries. No farm in the State is remote from a railroad 
station or a steamboat wharf; the express company, 
the telegraph and the telephone are everywhere. To 
buy a farm and settle down in Maryland is not like 
going into a new country. Every farm has its farm 
buildings and fences and the new settler will find 
well disposed, hospitable and kind neighbors close to 
him. He will find himself among law-abiding, relig- 
ious people, and in most of the counties of the State 
the sale of intoxicating drink is prohibited. There is 
in almost every section, and especially in the southern 
counties, an abundance of woodland and if wood is to 
be used for fuel, the only cost to the farmer is the 
cost of cutting it. 

The climate of southern and eastern Maryland is 
mild and equable and healthful. The winters are not 
severe and the summers not excessively hot, the cold 
of winter and heat of summer being moderated by the 
proximity of the Atlantic ocean and the Chesapeake 
bay. In the tidewater country the salt waters of the 
Chesapeake, and of the rivers and creeks which flow 
into it afford to the enterprising citizen an abundance 
of the most delicious food — fish, oysters and crabs — 
and if he is inclined to be a sportsman he can add wild 
ducks and other birds to his bill of fare. Nature has 
blessed the State of Maryland with a kindly and 



I 



io The State of Maryland. 

diversified soil for the benefit of the agriculturist, with 
mines and quarries and with productive fisheries. The 
General Assembly has passed a law for the encourage- 
ment of oyster planting and a vast and profitable 
industry is surely expected to grow up within a few 
years. In 1904 the Legislature appropriated $200,000 
annually, to be apportioned among the counties for the 
improvement of the public roads under the direction 
of the State Geological Survey. In order to get the 
benefit of this appropriation each county must appro- 
priate a sum equal to the amount it receives. In 1906 
a large sum was appropriated to construct a fine road 
between Baltimore and Washington, and the work on 
this road is progressing finely. At the session of 1908 
a great step was made in the physical improvement of 
the State by the creation of the Highway Commission 
and the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the construc- 
tion of public roads in all parts of the State. This will 
be a splendid improvement and the fine roads, when 
completed, will increase the value of all the farming 
lands through which they pass or adjacent to them. 

The government of Maryland, while maintaining 
admirable free schools, common and high schools, and 
manual training schools, aids in the support of colleges 
and professional schools, encourages religion and 
maintains libraries, has in recent years entered upon 
a broad and liberal scheme for the physical improve- 
ment of the State and the increase of wealth. To this 
end the State government maintains the following de- 
partments : 

A Geological Survey to describe the physiography 
of the State, to explore and describe its varied mineral 



State Agencies for Improvement. n 

resources, to describe the various soils, to make maps 
and to make exhibits of the mineral resources. 

The Highways Division of the Geological Survey 
for the discovery and testing of road material and the 
execution of the Shoemaker road law and building 
roads under its provisions of which the State pays half 
and the county in which the 1 road is made the other 
half of the cost. This department is also constructing 
the boulevard from Baltimore to Washington. 

The State Road Commission which is charged with 
the improvement of the roads under the Act of 1908 
and with the expenditure of the $5,000,000 appropria- 
tion for road making. 

A Forestry Commission charged with the care and 
preservation of the forests and of a State forest 
reserve, which has begun, and which at this time con- 
tains 3,000 acres of woodland. 

The Shell Fish Commission charged with surveying 
the oyster lands of the State, the leasing of bottoms 
to oyster planters and the upbuilding of an oyster 
planting industry. 

A Fish Commission charged with the protection and 
increase in the supply of food fishes. 

A Bureau of Labor Statistics for the improvement 
of the conditions of labor, the enforcement of the 
child-labor and the sweat shop laws and the encourage- 
ment of factories. 

These various subjects will be treated at length in 
succeeding pages in this book. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE STATE OF MARYLAND. 

Maryland is one of the thirteen original States. It 
lies on the Atlantic seaboard, and is included between 
the parallels of 37° 53' and 39° 43' 26" of north lati- 
tude and 75° 4' and 79° 33' west longitude. Its north- 
ern boundary is Mason and Dixon's line, which sep- 
arates it from Pennsylvania on the north. Delaware 
joins it on the east, and is also separated from Mary- 
land by the same historic boundary. The Atlantic 
ocean forms a portion of the eastern 4x>undary. The 
Potomac river separates it from Virginia and West 
Virginia, the whole of the river to low water mark on 
the southern side being within the jurisdiction of 
Maryland. 

The area of the State of Maryland is not large, and 
it is the smallest State of the Union except six. And 
yet it extends from the Atlantic ocean across the 
Coastal Plain, and the broad Chesapeake, the Pied- 
mont region, the Blue Ridge mountains, the Great Val- 
ley and westward of the ridge of the Alleghany moun- 
tain range, its northwestern corner draining into the 
water courses of the Mississippi valley. In that terri- 
tory there is every variety of soil, and most of the 
crops and fruits and flora of the temperate zone. Its 
geology illustrates the geological history of the con- 
tinent, and its climate varies from the balmy tem- 
perature of the seaboard, where the winters are mild, 
and such fruit as figs, apricots and almonds grow in 




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Area and Boundaries. 13 

the open air, to the rigorous climate of the Alleghany 
mountain heights, where the mercury sometimes sinks 
to nearly 30 degrees below zero, and where the sum- 
mers are cool and delightful. Between these two 
extremes there is the wholesome, bracing air and equa- 
ble temperature of the uplands, which extend from 
near Baltimore westward to the Alleghany mountains. 

The extreme length of the State from east to west 
is 315 miles; the extreme breadth from north to south 
is 128 miles. The total area is 12,210 square miles, of 
which 2,350 are water. This water area is made up 
principally of the Chesapeake bay and its numerous 
tidal tributaries. The entire land surface of the State 
drains into the Chesapeake, except a part of Worces- 
ter county, whose streams find their way through 
Assateague and Sinepuxent bays to the ocean; the 
northeast portion of Cecil county, which drains into 
Christian creek and the Delaware, and the larger part 
of Garrett, which is drained by the Youghiogheny and 
Castleman rivers into the Ohio. 

The northern boundary, known as the Mason and 
Dixon line, which became famous later as the bound- 
ary between the free and slave-holding States of the 
North and South, was, according to an agreement 
made in 1732, to run due west from Cape Henlopen 
(fifteen miles south of the point now known hy that 
name) to the middle of the peninsula of the Eastern 
Shore, thence northward tangent to a circle of twelve 
miles radius — whose center was at Newcastle, Dela- 
ware — and then due north from the tangent point 
until it reached a parallel of latitude fifteen miles 
south of the southernmost part of Philadelphia. From 
this point the line was to run due west. Surveyors had 



14 The State of Maryland. 

already determined the position of the "center of the 
peninsula," the north and south line, and the "tangent 
point," when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, 
noted English astronomers and mathematicians, arrived 
in Philadelphia in 1763. From their arrival until 
December, 1767, Mason and Dixon were busy locating 
the "southernmost part of Philadelphia" and the 
northern boundary of the State, which they surveyed 
and marked as far as Dunkard creek, West Virginia, 
where they were stopped by the Indians. Along 
the greater portion of this line each mile was marked 
by a stone monument, which had the letter "P" en- 
graved on the northern side, and the letter "M" on the 
southern side 1 , while at each fifth mile was a stone, 
known as the "crown-stone," with the coat of arms 
of the Penns cut on the northern face and with 
that of Lord Baltimore on the southern. These stones 
were brought from England. Some of the original 
monuments remain in good condition, but many have 
become dilapidated or been removed. The line has 
been recently relocated by a Commission composed 
of representatives of the States of Maryland and 
Pennsylvania and of the United States Government. 

The southern boundary, long in dispute, was per- 
manently settled in 1877, as far as the Maryland- Vir- 
ginia portion is concerned, by a board of commis- 
sioners appointed by the States of Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. According to their agreement, the boundary 
line follows the low-water line on the right bank of 
the Potomac river to Smith's Point at its mouth, 
thence northeasterly across Chesapeake bay to the 
southern end of Smith's Island, and thence to the mid- 
dle of Tangier sound. Here the boundary runs south 



The Climate. 15 

io° 30' west, until it intersects a straight line con- 
necting Smith's Point and Watkins' Point. From this 
intersection the line runs to Watkins' Point, and thence 
eastward through the center of Pocomoke sound and 
Pocomoke river until it reaches the westward pro- 
longation of the old Scarborough and Calvert line 
surveyed in 1688, which it follows to the Atlantic 
ocean. There is still some controversy as to the exact 
location of some of the boundary marks. The States 
of Maryland and West Virginia have not yet agreed 
upon the western boundary. 

THE CLIMATE. 

The climate of Maryland is as varied as its surface 
configuration, and is to a considerable extent depend- 
ent upon the latter. These climatic differences are 
also due to the nearness of large bodies of water, such 
as the Atlantic ocean and the Chesapeake bay. The 
climate of most of the State has the health fulness com- 
mon to the eastern part of the United States, and in 
character is midway between that of Maine and that 
of Florida. In the eastern and southern parts of the 
State the winters are 1 mild. While in the western and 
more elevated portions the winters are quite cold and 
the summers delightfully cool. The so-called "climatic 
changes" depend upon differences in temperature, pre- 
cipitation, winds, humidity and barometric pressure. 

The average temperature for the year varies 
materially in the several sections of the State, the tem- 
perature of the northern and western divisions, which 
ranges from an average of 2J° in winter to 70° in 
summer, is several degrees lower than that of the 
southern and eastern divisions, where the temperature 



16 The State of Maryland. 

for winter is, on the average, about 40° and for sum- 
mer yy°. In general, the average temperature of 
Southern Maryland is 2° higher than that of Balti- 
more, while the temperature of the country to the 
north and west of the city decreases as the elevation 
of the land becomes greater. In the western part of 
the State the valleys are slightly warmer than the 
mountains, but are more liable to early frosts. 

The precipitation of moisture in Maryland occurs 
in the form of rain, snow and hail, usually the first, 
especially in the southern and eastern parts of the 
State. There are no distinctly wet and dry seasons, 
as in tropical countries, but careful observations show 
that there is more rain in the spring and late summer 
than in the autumn and winter. There are also special 
areas where there is considerable rainfall, and others 
in which the precipitation is slight. The records show 
that the areas of greatest rainfall are on the eastern 
slope of the Catoctin mountain, in the Frederick val- 
ley, and along the shores of the Chesapeake bay 
between Cambridge and Annapolis, while the areas of 
least precipitation are between Denton and Westmin- 
ster and in the mountainous counties. The annual 
precipitation in the State varies, according to locali- 
ties, from 25 to 48 inches. 

The winds in Maryland generally blow from the 
west, but during the summer they come more from 
the south, and in the winter more from the northwest 
and west, especially in the eastern and central por- 
tions of the State. In the mountainous regions of 
Western Maryland the winds are more commonly from 
the northwest and west throughout the year. 



Natural Divisions. 17 

The State is divided into three areas, known as the 
Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau and the Appa- 
lachian Region. 

The Coastal Plain embraces the eastern portion and 
includes the area between the Atlantic ocean to a line 
passing from Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington, 
I D. C, through Baltimore. It embraces the nine coun- 
- ties of the Eastern Shore, five southern counties and 
portions of Harford and Baltimore: This is also 
known as the tidewater section of the State. It in- 
cludes the Chesapeake bay, and nearly every portion 
of it is reached by navigable streams or washed by 
the waters of the bay. The soil of this section is 
, mostly light and in many places sandy. Much of it is 
1 fine wheat and corn lands. All of it will produce 
j tobacco, although its cultivation is nearly confined to 
the five southern counties on the Western Shore. 
There is no finer soil and climate for the production 
of fruit and vegetables than this Coastal Plain. In 
every part of it pure water is easily procured by 
driven wells. The fruit most commonly produced in 
this region for market are peaches, apples, plums, 
pears, strawberries and other small fruit and melons. 
It is an ideal region for truck farming, producing 
early vegetables and fruit, and having cheap and quick 
access to the markets of three great cities — Phila- 
delphia, Washington and Baltimore. The land of the 
i Eastern Shore counties is low and level, most of it 
having no* greater elevation than 25 feet above sea 
level. 

The Piedmont Plateau is a low-lying plateau of 
complex origin whose rolling surface is traversed by 
highlands and cut by valleys which now and then 



/ 

18 The State of Maryland. 

trench the upland as deep gorges. It is divided into 
an eastern division and a western division by the 
inter-stream elevation known as Parr's Ridge, which, 
passing from western Montgomery county across 
Howard and Carroll counties, rises to an elevation of 
over 1,100 feet near the Pennsylvania line. A close 
study of this central portion of Maryland shows that 
the level-topped hills and broad stretches between the 
streams are remnants of old plains cut out of the 
high plateau that formerly stretched across the dis- 
trict from the Appalachians on the west to the sea on 
the east. Four such plains may be recognized by 
patching together their present remnants. The history 
of this district has also left its impression on the 
inhabitants. The best farming lands lie either on the 
flat-topped ridges or on the richer but wetter flood - 
plains of the valleys, and here may be found the 
most prosperous agriculturists. The trenching of 
the old plains has exposed the underlying rocks and 
stimulated the quarrying of building stones. It has 
also determined the location of the highways, while 
the waters descending from the highlands to the 
valley bottoms have developed water-powers which 
have been utilized by the numerous small mills 
throughout the district. 

The Appalachian Region, extending from the Pied- 
mont Plateau on the east to beyond the western limits 
of the State, consists of a series of parallel mountain 
ranges with deep valleys between. This region may 
be divided into four divisions — the Blue Ridge on 
the east, the Great Valley, the Alleghany Ridges from 
North Mountain to Big Savage Mountain, and the 
Alleghany Plateau from this point to the western limits 



Twenty=three Counties. 19 

of the State. These are but small segments of the 
similar divisions which extend northward into Penn- 
sylvania and southward across the Virginias into the 
Southern States. 

Maryland is divided into 23 counties and Baltimore 
City, of which Garrett, Allegany, Washington and 
the western part of Frederick comprise the moun- 
tainous region known as Western Maryland; the 
eastern part of Frederick, Carroll, Montgomery, 
Howard, Baltimore, Harford and the western part 
of Cecil the Piedmont area, which is also referred to 
under the name of Northern-Central Maryland ; Anne 
Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. 
Mary's, commonly called Southern Maryland; and 
the eastern part of Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, 
Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Wor- 
cester, known as Eastern Maryland. Of these 23 
1 counties all but seven lie upon navigable waters. 

There seems to have been no consistent method 
adopted in erecting the several counties of the State. 
Some, like St. Mary's and Kent, grew with the de- 
velopment of the province and were subsequently 
bounded by the erection of new counties; others, like 
Charles and Dorchester, were erected by the ruling of 
Lord Baltimore. Cecil county was erected by procla- 
mation of the Governor, while Washington, Mont- 
gomery, Howard and Wicomico were established in 
1 constitutional conventions. The great majority of 
j counties were, however, erected by Acts of Assembly. 
The records now extant do not show the original 
extent or the exact date of erection of several of the 
counties, but it is of interest to note that 18 out of 
the 23 counties were established before the close 0/ 



20 



The State of Maryland. 



the Revolutionary War and n of these before 1700. 
Baltimore City since 1851 has not been in any county, 
but, unlike any other American city except New York, 
is a distinct division of the State. 



THE POPULATION OF THE STATE BY COUNTIES. 

„ .. Date of Census Area in County 

Counties _ ., _ 

Erection 1900 sq. miles Towns 

Allegany 1789 53,694 440.5 Cumberland 

Anne Arundel... 1650 39,620 430.4 Annapolis 

Baltimore 1659 90,755 646.8 Towson 

f 1729 

Balto. City { ' * 508,957 30.0 

L?o5i 

Calvert 1654 10,223 216.8 Pr. Frederick 

Caroline 1726 16.248 317.4 Denton 

Carroll 1838 33,86o 445.3 Westminster 

Cecil 1674 24,662 374-6 Elkton 

Charles 1660 17,662 462.0 La Plata 

Dorchester 1666 27,962 573-2 Cambridge 

Frederick 1748 51,920 660.0 Frederick 

Garrett 1872 17,701 681.0 Oakland 

Harford 1773 28,269 439.8 Belair 

Howard 1850 16,715 249.1 Ellicott City 

Kent 1637 18,786 281.0 Chestertown 

Montgomery .... 1776 30,451 517.6 Rockville 

Pr. George's 1695 29,898 479-6 Upper Marlboro 

Queen Anne's. .. . 1706 18,364 363.4 Centerville 

St. Mary's 1637 17,182 369.1 Leonar-dtown 

Somerset 1668 25,923 328.6 Princess Anne 

Talbot 1661 20,342 267.1 Easton 

Washington 1776 45,133 457-3 Hagerstown 

Wicomico 1867 22,852 368.9 Salisbury 

Worcester 1742 20,865 491-5 Snow Hill 

The State 1,188.044 9,891.0 Annapolis 



Some Facts of History. 



TOTAL POPULATION AT VARIOUS PERIODS. 



2T 



Population. 

200 
12,000 
20,000 
25,000 
30,000 



Year. 

1634 

1660 

1671 

1701 

1715 

1748 '130,000 

1756 I54,l88 

1760 166,523 

1770 199,827 

1775 225,000 

1782 254,050 

1790 319,728 



Year. Population. 

1800 341,546 

1810 380,546 

1820 407,350 

1830 447,040 

1840 470,019 

1850 538,034 

i860 687,049 

1870 780,894 

1880 934,943 

1890 1,042,390 

1900. 1,188,044 



The counties of Maryland, unlike those of many 
1 other States, are the ultimate units of territory and 
1 not the combination of townships. This fact, together 
with the paucity of large towns and the agricultural 
character of the communities, have made the counties 
as such of unusual importance in all political and social 
relations. Election districts are established in all the 
counties. 

SOME FACTS OF HISTORY. 

Maryland was settled by a party of Englishmen 
under Leonard Calvert, who left the mother country 
in the "Ark and Dove" in 1633, and finally landed near 
the mouth of the Potomac, on the shores of St. Mary's 
river, in 1634. The proprietor, Cecil Calvert, second 
Baron of Baltimore, received the territory from 
Charles L, under a charter which allowed many lib- 
erties, including freedom from taxation by the King. 
In 1649 the colonists established these privileges by 
the "Toleration Act," which forbade discrimination on 
account of religious opinions. The Puritans from 



22 The State of Maryland. 

Virginia sought refuge in Maryland, and in 1652 even 
captured the State government for a period. 

About this time the Duke of York (afterwards 
James II.), through ignorance of the country, deeded 
to William Penn some of the land which had already 
been given to Lord Baltimore. This mistake led to a 
long border dispute, which only ended with the loca- 
tion of the Mason and Dixon Line (1763- 1767.) In 
1694 the capital of the State was moved from St. 
Mary's City to Annapolis. 

During the Revolutionary War no important mili- 
tary operations took place in Maryland, although the 
"Maryland Line" fought with valor in many engage- 
ments, especially those of Long Island, Camden, Cow- 
pens, Guilford and Eutaw Springs. On December 2.2, 
1783, Washington resigned his commission as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army in the Senate chamber at 
Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was then 
in session. 

During the War of 18 12 several Maryland towns 
were pillaged by the British, but Baltimore was saved 
from capture by the repulse of the enemy at North 
Point and Fort McHenry. It was during the bom- 
bardment of the latter place that Francis Scott Key 
wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." 

Among the battles of the Civil War three were 
fought on Maryland soil — South Mountain (Septem- 
ber 14, 1862), Sharpsburg, or Antietam (September 
16-17, 1862), and Monocacy (July 9, 1864). There 
were also small conflicts at many points, especially 
along the Potomac. 

In the history of the State are many incidents which 
have since become of national or international impor- 



Great Events. 23 

tance. The first wheat was shipped to Europe from 
Baltimore in 1771 ; the first regular steam packet that 
crossed the Atlantic direct from the United States 
sailed from Baltimore in May, 1838; while the Morse 
telegraph line transmitted its first message ("What 
hath God wrought") from Baltimore to Washington, 
April 9, 1844. Baltimore was the first city in America 
to have a water company (1792), street gaslights, a 
railroad (1828), and an electric street railroad (1881). 
The city contains the first American monument to 
Columbus, the first official State monument to George 
Washington, the oldest American lodge of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and the oldest College 
of Dental Surgery. 

The earliest settlers in Maryland were Englishmen. 
Many of the early settlers in the country adjacent 
to Pennsylvania were of German extraction, and their 
descendants are today numerous and influential. The 
negroes comprise one-fifth of the population, and are 
relatively more prominent in Charles, Calvert and St. 
Mary's counties, where they comprise fully one-half of 
the population; and least important in the western 
counties along the Mason and Dixon Line, where there 
is only one negro, on the average, to fourteen whites. 
In Baltimore, Cecil and Harford counties the negroes 
comprise one-sixth of the population, while in the 
counties of the Eastern and Western Shore, not pre- 
viously enumerated, they form about two-fifths of the 
mtire population. During the last twenty-five years 
chere has been a great increase in the Polish, Hun- 
garian and Bohemian inhabitants, who have settled 
:hiefly in Baltimore City. 

Maryland has always been a religious center. As 
*arly as 1629 services were regularly conducted on 



1 



24 The State of Maryland. 

Kent Island by an ordained minister of the Church of 
England. The first Presbyterian Church in America 
was established at Snow Hill about 1700, and in 1766 
Robert Strawbridge established the first Methodist 
congregation in America in Carroll, then Frederick 
county. Many of the most prominent of the early 
settlers were Roman Catholics, and the See of Balti- 
more has held the first position in America since the 
decree of 1858. There are 59 denominations or sects 
represented in Maryland, and although many of them 
are scattered throughout the State they show local 
variations in strength, which are often closely related 
to the history, beliefs and nationalities of the early 
settlers. 

STATE GOVERNMENT. 

The government of Maryland is based on a Consti- 
tution formulated and ratified in 1867. Earlier con- 
stitutions were adopted in 1776, 185 1, 1864, and the 
Constitution of 1776 was very much changed in 1837. 
According to the present Constitution the State is 
divided into 23 counties and Baltimore City, which in 
turn are subdivided into districts for school and elec- 
tion purposes. There are no units such as townships, 
but the local affairs of the cities, towns and villages 
are carried on by officers in accordance with charters 
and special acts. 

Among the State officials under the Constitution of 
1867 are the Governor, elected for four years, and the 
Secretary of State, who is appointed by the Governor. 
The Senate and House of Delegates, which together 
form the General Assembly or Legislature, consist of 
27 Senators, elected for four years, one from each of 
the 23 counties and the four districts of Baltimore 




HON. JOSHUA W. HERING, 
COMPTROLLER OF TREASURY. 




HON. MURRAY VAND1VER, 
TREASURER. 



Judicial System. 25 

City, and 101 Delegates, elected for two years. Each 
of the legislative districts of Baltimore is entitled to 
six Delegates, the number allowed the largest county. 
The Assembly meets every even year, on the first 
Wednesday in January, and may remain in session 
only 90 days. At the call of the Governor a special 
session may be held, which is limited by law to 30 
days. 

The judicial powers of the State are vested in a 
Court of Appeals, composed of eight judges; Circuit 
Courts with seven chief judges, who with on£ from 
Baltimore City are the judges of the Court of Appeals, 
and twenty-two associate judges, nine of the latter 
with one chief judge, who is not a member of the 
Court of Appeals, constituting the Supreme Bench of 
Baltimore City; an Orphans' Court with three judges 
in each county and the city. The Appeal and Circuit 
Court judges are elected for fifteen years, the judges 
of the Orphans' Court for four, the registrars of wills 
for six, and the sheriffs for two. The Attorney- 
General of the State and the State's Attorneys are 
elected for four years. Justices of the Peace, coroners 
and notaries are appointed by the Governor. 

Among other prominent State officials are the Comp- 
troller, who is the financier for the State, and who is 
elected by the people for two years, and the Treasurer, 
who is the banker, and who is elected by the General 
Assembly for a two-year term. 

The more important State organizations are the 
Board of Public Works, Militia, Fishery Force, Land 
Office, State Agricultural Experiment Station, State 
Geological Survey with its Highway Division, State 
Weather Service, State Horticultural Bureau, Bureau 



26 The State of Maryland. 

of Industrial Statistics, Immigration Bureau, Board of 
Education, Board of Health, Boards of Medical Exam- 
iners, Examiners of Dental Surgery, State Lunacy 
Commission, Live Stock Sanitary Board, the Fish 
Commission, the Shell Fish Commission, the State 
Roads Commission and the Forestry Commission. 

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS. 

The Board of Public Works of Maryland is one of 
the most important agencies for the government of the 
State. It is composed of the' Governor, the Comp- 
troller of the Treasury and the Treasurer. The con- 
stitutional duty of this board is to exercise a diligent 
and faithful supervision of all public works in which 
the State may be interested and perform such other 
duties as may be required by law. Among the duties 
which have from time to time been imposed upon the 
Board of Public Works is the appointment of the 
officials of the fisheries force; the appointment of the 
Shell Fish Commission and of the State Tax Com- 
missioner. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Clerks of Courts are elected by the people, and hold 
office for six years from the date of their election. 

Sheriffs are elected by the people and hold office for 
two years from the date of their election. 

Registrars of Wills are elected by the people and 
hold office for six years from the date of their election. 

State's Attorneys are elected by the people and hold 
office for four years from the date of their election. 

Surveyors are elected by the people and hold office 
for two years from the first Monday in January next 
ensuing from their election. 



County Officers. 27 

County Commissioners are elected by the people and 
hold office for two, four or six years from th£ date of 
their election. The exact terms being regulated by 
different local laws. 

Judges of Orphans' Courts are elected by the people 
and hold office for four years from the time of their 
election. 

Justices of the Peace are appointed by thei Governor, 
with the consent of the Senate, for a term of two 
years from the first Monday in May. Unlike other 
State officers, Justices of the Peace do not hold over 
until the appointment of their successors, but their 
jurisdiction ceases upon the expiration of their term. 

Police Justices for Baltimore City, one for each 
station house and one at large, are selected by the 
Governor from the list of civil Justices appointed for 
the city and by him assigned to the several stations. 

One Justice of the Peace in Baltimore City is 
appointed by the Governor to preside over the Juvenile 
Court, which is charged with the trial of all children 
who are arrested for minor offenses and who are 
under 16 years of age. 

The Boards of Supervisors of Elections in the 
several counties and Baltimore City are appointed by 
the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, for a 
term of two years. Two members of each board shall 
always be selected, one from each of the two leading 
political parties of the State. In making these appoint- 
ments the Governor is required to call upon the State 
Central Committees of the two leading political parties 
from each county and from Baltimore City for at 
least four names from among which to make a selec-' 
tion. Supervisors in Baltimore City receive a salary 



28 The State of Maryland. 

of fifteen hundred dollars and in the counties of one 
hundred and fifty dollars. 

Notaries Public are appointed for the several coun- 
ties and Baltimore City by the Governor, with the 
consent of the Senate. 

School Commissioners are appointed by the Gover- 
nor, with the consent of the Senate, as follows : In 
the counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dor- 
chester and Washington the Board consists of six 
members, and in the other counties of three. 

AGRICULTURE. 

Maryland has 460,000 farms, with an acreage of 

2,032,000, and an annual total value of farm crops 

of $32,217,000. A statement of the value of each 
product to the State is as follows : 

Small fruits $1,224,000 

Potatoes i,337,ooo 

Orchard fruits 1,416,000 

Tobacco 1,438,000 

Miscellaneous products 1,792,000 

Vegetables 4,354,000 

Hay and forage 4,709,000 

Wheat 8,494,000 

Corn 7,463,000 

Total value $32,217,000 

The animal products are as follows : 

Honey and wax $39,000 

Wool 143,000 

Poultry and eggs 3,650,000 

Pork, beef and mutton 4,546,000 

Dairy products 5,229,000 

Total value „. $13,607,000 



Natural Products. 29 

FLORA AND FAUNA. 

The native plants of Maryland are not unlike those 
of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the range within 
the State is wider than that between adjacent areas 
in neighboring States. The most prominent tree^ 
are oak (12 species), hickory (4), pine (4), poplar, 
maple (3), locust, chestnut, cypress, red cedar, beech 
and wild cherry. Among the wild fruit trees are the 
persimmon, the service berry and Chickasaw plum. 
The various sorts of grapevine, the Virginia creeper, 
greenbrier and morning glory are common climbers 
in the State, while the wild strawberry, blackberry, 
raspberry, blueberry, huckleberry, dewberry and cran- 
berry, all very abundant, represent the native small 
fruits. Besides these larger or fruit-bearing plants 
there are countless others which carpet the ground in 
rapid succession from early spring until late autumn. 

The animal life in Maryland is abundant, but dojs 
not show a great variety of the larger forms. Deer, 
black bears and wildcats are sometimes taken in the 
wilder portions of the State. Usually, however, the 
mammals are represented only by such animals as 
the ground-hogs, rabbits, skunks, weasels, minks, 
otters, opossums and squirrels. Snakes are abundant, 
but most of the species are harmless. 

The waters of the Chesapeake bay abound in) shad, 
herring, menhaden, mackerel, crabs and oysters. 
Among the ducks which frequent Chesapeake bay, are 
the canvas-backs, red-heads, bald-pates, mallards, 
black-heads and teal ; while the land birds include the 
reed-bird, partridge, ruffed grouse (or "pheasant"), 
woodcock, snipe, plover and Carolina rail. 



30 The State of Maryland. 

The smaller song and ornamental birds are very 
numerous and include many thrushes, wrens, swal- 
lows, sparrows, nighthawks, wild doves and the "Bal- 
timore oriole." Woodpeckers, owls, hawks, turkey- 
buzzards and crows are also numerous. 

FINANCIAL CONDITION. 

The financial condition of Maryland is sound and 
the State tax rate is only 16 cents on each hundred 
dollars of property. The entire sum collected from 
this tax levy is devoted to the support of the public 
schools. The State contributes to the public free 
schools of Baltimore City and the counties over 
$1,200,000 a year and the counties appropriate 
$2,500,000 to the same good purpose. And this appro- 
priation of nearly $4,000,000 to education is in addi- 
tion to the large sums which the State appropriates 
for colleges and high schools, exacting free scholar- 
ships in return for benefactions. At the close of the 
last fiscal year, namely on September 30, 1907, the 
market value of the sinking funds and the securities 
owned by the State and dedicated to the payment of 
the public debt, was far in excess of the amount of 
bonds outstanding. Therefore, no taxes were levied 
for the public debt. At the session of 1908 the Gen- 
eral Assembly authorized the gradual issue of bonds 
to provide funds for the improvement of the public 
roads of the State, to the amount of $5,000,000. But 
the State tax has not yet been increased because of 
that debt. 

The following statement shows the public school tax 
in each county and Baltimore City for the year 1907, 
based upon the assessment of 1907 : 



Property Values. 31 



Assessed 
Value of 
Counties and Baltimore City. Property for 

State Levy 
in 1907. 

Allegany $19,257,878 

Anne Arundel 12,476,303 

Baltimore City 450,428,339 

Baltimore 92,504,841 

Calvert 2,366,953 

Caroline 5,393,571 

Carroll 17,021,949 

Cecil 1 1,487,499 

Charles 3,677,424 

Dorchester 7,093,800 

Frederick 21,063,766 

Garrett 7,540,039 

Harford 13,037,598 

Howard 9,594,235 

Kent 8,372,949 

Montgomery 13,869,690 

Prince George's 11,689,984 

Queen Anne's 8,652,907 

St" Mary's 3,338,883 

Somerset 5,155,551 

Talbot 8,747,475 

Washington 20,774,420 

Wicomico 6,258,159 

Worcester 5,305,015 

Total $765,109,228 



Amount of 


Levy for 


1907 at 16 


cents on each 


$100. 


$30,8l2 6b 


19,962 08 


720,685 34 


148,007 /5 


3,787 12 


8,629 71 


27,235 12 


18,380 00 


5,883 88 


11,350 08 


33,702 03 


12,064 °6 


20,860 16 


15,350 78 


13,396 72 


22,191 50 


18,703 97 


13,844 65 


5,342 21 


8,248 88 


13,995 96 


33,239 07 


10,013 06 


8,488 03 


$1,224,174 76 



CHAPTER III. 



MINERAL WEALTH.* 

The mineral resources of Maryland are of much 
value and have yielded a great variety of products, 
some of which afford the basis for important com- 
mercial enterprises. The old crystalline rocks, con- 
fined for the most part to the Piedmont region between 
the Monocacy and the Chesapeake, have afforded 
the most varied mineral products. Here occur the 
most important building stones; the slates of Delta 
and Ijamsville; the granite of Port Deposit, Wood- 
stock, Ellicott City and Guilford; the gneiss of Balti- 
more; the marble of Cockeysville and Texas; the 
crystalline limestone of Westminster; the sandstone 
of Deer Creek; and the serpentine of Broad Creek 
and Bare Hills. In these oldest rocks occur also the 
ores of gold, copper, chrome, lead and zinc. Iron ore 
is also found here, while all the flint, feldspar, kaolin 
and mica in the State must be sought for in these 
rocks. These older rocks also appear in the Blue 
Ridge district, where they form the Middletown valley 
and have yielded traces of copper, antimony and iron. 

The rocks of later age, forming what geologists 
call the Paleozoic system, make up the western sec- 
tion of the State. They furnish much sandstone and 
limestone suitable for building purposes, the latter 



*This chapter and that on soils was prepared by the Mary- 
land Geological Survey for the Maryland Commissioners to 
Pan-American Exposition in 1901. 



Rocks and Coal. 33 

also being burned extensively for agricultural pur- 
poses. There are also important deposits of cement 
rock that have afforded the basis for an extensive 
industry. At the top of this Paleozoic system of rock 
formations are situated the coal beds of the famous 
Cumberland-George's Creek coal basin, including the 
wonderful Big Vein that is universally thought to 
furnish the highest quality of steam and smithing 
coal. These same rocks also contain important 
deposits of fire-clay and iron ore, the former affording 
the basis for a very important fire brick industry. 

The post-Paleozoic formations of the State, although 
not as rich in mineral products, are not devoid of 
deposits of economic value. The interesting varie- 
gated limestone breccia, known as Potomac marble, and 
the brown sandstone of Frederick and Montgomery 
counties belong to the oldest of these post-Paleozoic 
strata. The series of still unconsolidated beds, repre- 
senting much of the remainder of post-Paleozoic 
time and comprising all of Eastern and Southern 
Maryland, and known as the Coastal Plain, furnishes 
the chief supply of brick, potter's and tile clay; of 
sand, marl and diatomaceous earth (silica), and much 
iw>f the iron ore. The clay industry, particularly, is one 
>f the most important in the State. 

COALS. 

The coal deposits of Maryland are confined to 
vestern Allegany and Garrett counties, and are of 
he great Appalachian coal field, which extends from 
Pennsylvania southward into West Virginia. The 
Maryland coal is mainly semi-bituminous or steam 
oal, and in the George's Creek basin, near Cumber- 



34" The State of Maryland. 

land, contains the famous "Big Vein," or Fourteen- 
foot vein, that for steam-producing and smithing pur- 
poses has no superior and few equals in any portion 
of the world. Below the "Big Vein" are a number of 
smaller workable seams that contain coal of fine 
quality, which is already securing an extensive market. 
The Maryland coal was discovered early in the cen- 
tury, and has been continuously worked since 1836, 
when the first company was organized. The aggre- 
gate output of Maryland steam and smithing coal at 
the present day amounts to several million tons 
annually. 

The Maryland Big Vein coal occurs in the upper 
coal measures, while the most important of the small 
veins are in the lower coal measures. The latter have 
received less consideration in the past on account of 
the reputation of the Big Vein, but are destined to 
play a very important part in future coal development 
in Western Maryland. 

The Maryland coal is high in fixed carbon, and, 
especially in the case of the Big Vein, low in sulphur 
and ash, thus possessing in highest measure those 
qualities which give to coal its steam-producing 
power. 

CLAYS. 

The clays of Maryland are widely extended, occur- 
ring in a great number of the geological formations. 
They are the most extensively developed through a 
belt running from northeast to southwest along the J 
western margin of the Coastal Plain, and including I 
both the Baltimore and Washington regions. Other 
important clays are found in the central and western 
sections of the State, and even the southern and east- 



Clays and Sand. 35 

ern counties are not without this material in large 
quantities. The Maryland clays are suitable for all 
grades of building brick, tile, terra cotta, fire-brick 
and some grades of pottery. Brick-making began in 
Maryland in colonial days, and has since been one 
of the most important industries in the State — the 
great brick works of Baltimore being among the 
largest of their kind. The manufacture of fire-brick 
has been one of the most characteristic industries 
of Maryland for 50 years, and the brick made from 
the Carboniferous clays of Allegany and Garrett 
counties are regarded as the best in the country. 

The State of Maryland is well provided with porce- 
lain materials, including flint, feldspar and kaolin. 
The flint is widely distributed throughout the eastern 
portion of the Piedmont Plateau, and is especially 
abundant in Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and 
Montgomery counties. It occurs as vein fillings in 
the form of pure granulated or vitreous quartz. In 
Harford county, where the veins are most abundant, 
the quartz has been quarried in large amounts. It 
is crushed, and then shipped in sacks to the potters. 

Kaolin is produced mainly in Cecil county, which 
is part of the most important kaolin region in the 
United States, other deposits being found in the 
adjoining portions of Delaware and Pennsylvania. 

Sand deposits of economic value have been ex- 
ploited both in the western and southern sections of 
the State, and the sandy sediment from the bed of 
the Potomac river and from other streams has also 
been dredged in large amounts. The Paleozoic forma- 
tions of Western Maryland contain at two horizons 
important glass-sand deposits that have been mined 



36 The State of Maryland. 

extensively in nearby regions. The most extensively 
developed sand deposits in the State, however, are 
found in Anne Arundel county, where large excava- 
tions have been made in the Cretaceous deposits near 
the head of the Severn river, and a good grade of 
glass-sand obtained. The location of these sand 
deposits at tide renders it possible to ship the materials 
cheaply by water, and it is probable that they will be 
much more fully utilized in the future than they have 
been in the past. 

Molding-sand, suitable for brass castings, is found 
in the vicinity of Catonsville, Baltimore county, and 
this deposit is worked to some extent at the present 
time. A sand is secured from the south shore of the 
Patapsco river below Baltimore for pig-iron casting. 

The Tertiary formations of Eastern and Southern 
Maryland contain important marl deposits that have 
never been developed except for local uses. Their 
agricultural importance has not been generally rec- 
ognized, although they have been worked to some 
extent since the early decades of the century. The 
older Tertiary marls are glauconitic, and are not unlike 
the famous greensand marls of New Jersey, which 
have been so largely and successfully employed there 
as a natural fertilizer. Greensand marl contains 
a small percentage of phosphoric acid, some potash 
and a greater or less amount of carbonate of lime. 
When spread upon the surface of the land the effect 
is slow, but is often more lasting than the commercial 
fertilizers. The younger Tertiary marls are mainly 
shell deposits, and are commonly known under the 
name of shell-marls. They frequently contain a large 
percentage of lime, and thus afford a valuable addi- 
tion to certain soils. 




!t( 



HON. ISAAC LOBE STRAUS, 
ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 



Iron Ores. 37 

Diatomaceous earth, known to the trade as silica 
or tripoli, has been produced in larger quantities in 
Maryland than anywhere else in the United States. 
It is chiefly found in Calvert and Charles counties, 
where it has been more or less extensively worked 
J at the mouth of Lyon's creek, on the P'atuxent, and 
at Pope's creek, on the Potomac river. 

IRON ORES. 

The iron ore industry in Maryland was developed 
j early in colonial days, and continued until a recent 
1 period to be one of the most important factors in the 
prosperity of the State. The only ores now being pro- 
duced in Maryland to any extent are the carbonate 
1 ores derived from the clays along the western margin 
I of the Coastal Plain, chiefly in Anne Arundel and 
Prince George's counties. The great bulk of these ores 
is today smelted in the Muirkirk furnace in Prince 
George's county. It is interesting to note that this 
carbonate ore was probably the first iron ore worked in 
Maryland, and is, even today, highly prized for its 
tensile strength. 

Mineral paint has been produced at several points 
in Maryland. Large quantities were obtained in 
former years from the brown iron ore deposits of 
Frederick county. Ochre mines have also been oper- 
ated in Carroll and Howard counties. The deposits 
of chief importance at the present time, however, are 
found associated with the clays in Anne Arundel 
and Prince George's counties. In the latter locality 
the material is a fine and highly ferruginous clay 
that can be easily worked, and large quantities have 
(been annually mined. It occurs in many grades and 
colors. 



38 The State of Maryland. 

BUILDING STONE. 

The building and decorative stones of Maryland are 
widely distributed throughout the western and cen- 
tral portions of the State, and consist of many differ- 
ent varieties, which, from their diversity in color, 
hardness and structural peculiarities, are well adapted 
for nearly all architectural and decorative purposes. 
Among the most, important may be mentioned the 
granite, gneiss, marble, limestone, slate, sandstone and 
serpentine. Among the localities in Maryland where 
granite has been most extensively worked are Port 
Deposit, in Cecil county; Woodstock, in Baltimore 
county; and EUicott City and Guilford, in Howard 
county. Other areas in Cecil, Howard and Mont- 
gomery counties contain some good stone, but it is 
quarried only for local use. At the localities first 
mentioned the granite is extensively quarried at the 
present time, and has afforded material for the con- 
struction of some of the most important buildings in 
the country, including the Capitol and Congressional 
Library in Washington, Fortress Monroe, Forts Car- 
roll and McHenry, the United States Naval Academy, 
and other public and private buildings, as well as 
bridges in Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia. 
The excellent quality of the stone renders it available 
in many cases as a decorative stone, and monumental 
work has already been undertaken. 

The more solid varieties of the gneiss occurring in 
and near the city of Baltimore are extensively quar- 
ried for use as foundation stone. This rock is of a 
gray color, and occurs in parallel layers of light and 
dark stone. 



Maryland Marble. 39 

MARBLE. 

The marble of Maryland is mainly confined to the 
eastern division of the Piedmont Plateau. The white 
varieties occur for the most part in Baltimore county, 
and the highly variegated marbles in Carroll and 
Frederick counties. The white marbles of Baltimore 
county are found in a series of narrow belts a few 
miles north of Baltimore City. The most important 
of the areas is that which extends northward from 
Lake Roland to Cockeysville, and which is traversed 
by the Northern Central Railway. The marble has 
been extensively quarried both at Cockeysville and 
Texas, the well-known Beaver Dam Marble Quarries 
of the former locality having been in successful oper- 
ation for more than 75 years. The rock is a fine sac- 
charoidal dolomite of great compactness and dura- 
bility. Monoliths of large size can be obtained at the 
quarries. Many important structures in Baltimore, 
Washington and Philadelphia have been made of this 
marble. Stone for the construction of the Washington 
Monument, in Baltimore, was taken from this locality 
as early as 1814. 

The fine-grained, compact and variegated marbles, 
or crystalline limestones, of the western portion of 
the Piedmont Plateau in Carroll and Frederick coun- 
ties compare favorably in their quality, texture and 
beautiful veining with the well-known marbles from 
Vermont and Tennessee, and are deserving of much 
more attention than they have heretofore received. 
In the Wakefield valley, west of Westminster, a beau- 
tifully mottled red and white marble occurs; others 
of black and white, gray and white, and blue and 
white veining occur near New Windsor and Union 



40 The State of Maryland. 

Bridge^ and still others of a variegated yellow, with 
lighter veinings, have been derived from the same 
area. This marble, on account of the limited extent 
of the deposits, has not been regarded as of much 
economic importance, but the stone, when secured, is 
well adapted for purposes of interior decoration. 

Another stone which may be classed with the deco- 
rative marbles is the Triassic conglomerate, or 
breccia, of southern Frederick county. It is known 
as "Potomac Marble," or "Calico Rock," and has 
received noteworthy application as a decorative stone 
in the old Hall of Representatives at Washington, 
where it forms a series of beautiful columns. It 
occurs, well exposed, at Washington Junction, Fred- 
erick county, and extends northward along the base 
of the Catoctin mountain. The limestone fragments 
of which the rock is composed are imbedded in a red 
ferruginous cement, and the stone, when polished, 
presents a very beautiful appearance. 

The blue limestones of the Appalachian district 
have been used to some extent for building purposes, 
more especially in Hagerstown, where many struc- 
tures have been made of this material. The blue 
limestone changes its color rapidly on weathering, and 
with a rather pleasing effect. A very compact, even- 
grained and pure cream white stone occurs at one or 
two points in the Hagerstown valley, but has not been 
exploited to any great extent as yet. The limestones 
are extensively used for foundation and other pur- 
poses. 

The slate of northern Harford county is a part of 
the Peach Bottom Slate Belt that extends northward 
into Pennsylvania and southwestward into Baltimore 



Slate and Sandstone. 41 

and Carroll counties. The best slate in this Belt is 
found not far from the Pennsylvania line in Harford 
county, the shipments, however, being largely made 
from Delta, Pa., and on this account the slate is often 
credited to Pennsylvania. The Peach Bottom slate has 
always enjoyed a very high reputation and is second 
to none in its durable qualities. It has been worked 
since Revolutionary times. 

The sandstones of different color which have been 
found at many localities in Central and Western Mary- 
land are, many of them, well suited to furnish val- 
uable building stones but only one or two localities 
have been commercially developed to any extent, al- 
though the stone is used locally at many points. The 
red sandstone of Triassic age in Frederick and Mont- 
gomery counties has long possessed much reputation 
in the building-stone trade. The most extensive quar- 
ries are situated on the Potomac river, near the mouth 
of Seneca creek. The Seneca sandstone has been quar- 
ried in a more or less systematic way since 1774, and. 
has always been highly regarded for its strength and 
durability and its deep red color. It has been used in 
the construction of many important buildings, including 
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The white 
Cambrian sandstone of the Catoctin and Blue Ridge 
mountains has been extensively utilized locally, and 
at times has found somewhat wider employment, es- 
pecially by the railroad companies. In Allegany and 
Garrett counties the Silurian, Devonian and Carboni- 
ferous sandstones have been quarried at several points, 
particularly in the vicinity of Cumberland, where two 
of these sandstone beds have furnished materials for 
steps, curbs and architectural trimmings. 



42 The State of Maryland. 

One of the most interesting and beautiful decora- 
tive stones in Maryland is the serpentine, which has 
been worked more or less extensively in Harford, 
Baltimore and Cecil counties. The rock is very hard, 
and possesses a rich emerald green color, clouded with 
darker streaks of included magnetite. Maryland ser- 
pentine has been used for interior decorations in sev- 
eral large buildings in New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
more and Washington, and has great possibilities as 
a decorative stone. 

A number of the other Maryland stones have been 
used for building and decorative purposes. Among 
these may be mentioned the black gabbro, locally 
known as "Niggerhead Rock," which occurs widely 
throughout the eastern portion of the Piedmont Pla- 
teau. It is very hard and tough, and cannot be eco- 
nomically quarried and dressed, and on that account 
has not found very wide use. The various other stones 
employed for building purposes can be regarded to 
.have little more than local value. 

Lime and Cement Products. — The limestone and 
marble deposits of Maryland have been extensively 
burned for building and agricultural uses. This in- 
dustry is not as important as it was at an earlier 
period; but there are still many kilns used for sup- 
plying lime for local purposes scattered throughout 
the district in which the calcareous rocks appear. 

The limestone and marble are also used as a flux 
for blast furnaces, the main supply being derived from 
the coarse-grained marble of Texas, Baltimore county, 
and the limestone of Cavetown, Washington county. 

Hydraulic cement has been extensively manufac- 
tured from the magnesian limestone of western Wash- 



Portland Cement. 43 

ington and Allegany counties, especially at Hancock 
and Cumberland (and more recently at Pinto), where 
extensive plants have long been in operation. The 
products of these industries have a high reputation, 
and have been extensively employed both within and 
'without the State. Recently a large plant for the 
manufacture of Portland Cement, with a capacity of 
1 1 ,000 barrels of cement per day and employing 
$1,000,000 of capital, has been established near 
Hagerstown. 

Chrome ore was discovered in 1872 in the serpen- 
tine of the Bare Hills, in Baltimore county, and sub- 
sequently other deposits were found in Harford and 
Cecil counties. For many years Maryland supplied 
most of the chrome ore of the world, but the discovery 
I in 1848 of the great deposits of chromite in Asia 
j Minor caused the practical abandonment of the chrome 
mines of Maryland, although Baltimore is still one 
of the most important centres for the manufacture of 
chromium salts. 

Soapstone has been worked to some extent in Car- 
roll, Harford and Montgomery counties, the most im- 
portant occurrence being in Carroll county, where 
there is a small production of this material at the pres- 
ent time. 

Among other mineral substances known to occur in 
Maryland, although not commercially profitable at the 
present time, may be mentioned lead, zinc, manganese, 
antimony, molybdenum, graphite, mica and asbestos. 



AGRICULTURAL SOILS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Maryland, with its great variety of soil and climatic 
conditions, offers exceptional advantages to the agri- 
culturist. Within the borders of the State are lands 
admirably adapted to general farming, while the fine 
market and transportation facilities offer every induce- 
ment to those who wish to enter the field of specialized 
farming. Generally it is customary, in speaking of 
the different portions of the State, to refer to the East- 
ern Shore, Southern Maryland, Northern-Central 
Maryland, and Western Maryland. Each of these 
subdivisions is a distinct agricultural region and pos- 
sesses certain peculiarities of soil, surface features and 
climatic conditions, as well as different market and 
transportation facilities. 

The Eastern Shore includes the counties that lie on 
the eastern side of the Chesapeake bay. The extremes 
of climate are tempered by proximity to the ocean and 
bay, and the lands have proved their special adaptabil- 
ity to early fruits and vegetables, in addition to the 
staple crops of wheat, corn, oats and hay. 

In the northern part of the Eastern Shore are fine 
wheat and corn lands, the wheat lands being rich 
loams which overlie clay loam subsoils. They are easy 
to cultivate, and can be made exceedingly productive. 
Soils of this character occupy large tracts of level up- 
land in southern Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's and Tal- 
bot counties. These soils are of a rather yellowish red 
color, but there are other wheat lands with soils of a 
different character. In the lower counties, especially 



Soils in East and South. 45 

in portions of Dorchester, Caroline, Wicomico and 
Worcester, are large areas of stiff white clayey soils 
that produce wheat, corn, oats and hay, or any crop 
adapted to a stiff clayey soil. Frequently these clays 
need underdrainage to make them produce well, as 
the subsoil is close and retentive. 

There are also large areas of rich sandy loams that 
are suited to growing vegetables and all kinds of small 
fruits, and consequently in many sections the canning 
industry has been enormously developed. The excel- 
lent transportation facilities allow perishable fruit to 
be shipped to all of the larger Northern cities, where 
it finds a ready sale. In some sections farming in re- 
cent years has undergone a complete revolution, the 
old staple crops have been given up and the more 
lucrative truck and fruit crops introduced. The peach 
crop from the Eastern Shore is very large in good sea- 
sons. This industry is rapidly spreading into the lower 
counties. Pears have recently proved a great success 
in Kent county. 

In connection with the soils of the Eastern Shore 
some mention must be made of the large areas of 
tidal marsh lands. Thousands of acres of fertile land 
could be reclaimed at comparatively little expense, but 
as yet little or no attempt has been made in this direc- 
tion. Lands that have been reclaimed are exceedingly 
fertile and will produce for an almost indefinite period. 

SOUTHERN MARYLAND. 

Southern Maryland includes the lower counties of 
the State that lie on the western side of the Chesa- 
peake bay. The land in general is higher and more 
broken than on the Eastern Shore. 



46 The State of Maryland. 

The soils of Southern Maryland range in texture 
from gravelly loams to light clays. Generally speak- 
ing, they consist of loams and sands which are ad- 
mirably adapted to growing all kinds of fruit and 
vegetables. The wheat lands are the heaviest types 
of soil found in Southern Maryland. They occur on 
the rolling uplands to a considerable extent, and as 
wide terraces along the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. 
These soils are heavy loams and clay loams, generally 
of a yellowish color. Some of these soils are still in 
excellent condition, in spite of having been cultivated 
for upwards of 200 years. On the uplands tobacco is 
grown as well as wheat. Wheat is grown on nearly 
all classes of soil in this portion of the State, but with 
very poor results on the lighter sandy loams. Lighter 
loams are found in some portions of the uplands and 
are better adapted to raising tobacco. The yield is less 
per acre, but the quality is good. Maryland tobacco is 
exported chiefly to Holland, France and Germany. It 
is a light, mild smoking tobacco, and formerly brought ! 
a much better price than at present. Competition with 
new tobacco-producing States and changing market 
demands have lowered the price and have correspond- 
ingly decreased the profits. The tobacco lands have 
been allowed to run down, and those farmers who have | 
turned their attention to other crops are gratified with 
the results obtained. The sandy loams cover large 
areas of Southern Maryland. There are loose sandy l 
soils which are too light in texture for producing wheat 
or grass, but since the extensive truck industry has 
been developed the lands that are near markets have 
greatly advanced in value. The sandy river necks 
south of Baltimore are famous truck-growing areas, 
and produce enormous quantities of melons, pears, 



Soils of Northern Central. 47 

beans, strawberries and small fruits. Shipments are 
made principally by boat when the distance is too far 
for hauling by wagon. There is also a very large 
peach industry in this section of the State. 

While certain portions of Southern Maryland have 
made great advancement along the lines of successful 
agriculture, there are still large areas of productive 
soil that are lying idle or growing up in pine forests. 

NORTHERN CENTRAL SECTION. 

The agricultural soils of the Northern Central Sec- 
tion of Maryland are mainly residual; that is, they 
are the products of the slow decomposition of the un- 
derlying rocks. They are, with few exceptions., strong 
and fertile. They can be made very productive and 
are generally in a high state of cultivation. The soils 
nay be discussed under the following classes: The 
imestone-valley lands, the red lands, the gray lands, 
:he phyllite soils and the barren lands of the serpentine 
ireas. 

The limestone-valley lands are perhaps the strongest 
soils found in the region. They are identical in many 
-espects with the soils of the Hagerstown valley. 
These soils are heavy red and yellow loams and clays. 
The largest valleys of these rich soils are found in 
Frederick, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties. 
These soils, by careful cultivation, annually yield fine 
:rops of grass, wheat, corn and other cereals. Many 
)f these valleys have long been noted for their pros- 
)erous, well-managed farms. On account of their 
leavy clayey nature they are famous grass lands and 
arge numbers of cattle are fattened in these valleys. 
The proximity to Baltimore and the excellent trans- 



48 The State of Maryland. 

portation facilities have also greatly stimulated the 
dairy interests. 

The red lands may be divided into two subclasses. 
First may be described the red lands of Carroll and 
Frederick counties, which consist of red loams and 
clay loams. These soils occupy areas near the fertile 
Monocacy limestone-valley, and the differences be- 
tween the soils of the two regions can be easily com- 
pared. In good seasons the red lands are almost as 
productive as the fertile limestone soils, but during 
years when the conditions for growth are unfavorable 
the yields are not so high as from the heavy clayey 
soils of the limestone valleys. However, the red lands 
rank as good, strong soils, and generally produce ex- 
cellent crops of grass, wheat, and corn, oats and pota- 
toes, the principal crops grown in this section of the 
State. 

The second class of red land soils occupies areas in 
Cecil, Harford and Baltimore counties. The soils are 
heavy red loams, grading into stiff clay loams of a red- 
dish or yellowish color. These are likewise strong 
clay soils, naturally productive and capable of standing 
considerable hard usage. They produce good yields 
of the staple crops such as wheat, grass and corn. In 
addition they produce large yields of tomatoes and 
corn for canning purposes. The canning of corn, to- 
matoes and other vegetables has been extensively car- 
ried on in Harford and Cecil counties for many years, 
and is one of the leading industries of these counties. 
The dairy interests are considerable on these strong 
soils, which produce excellent crops of hay and afford 
fine pasturage. 

The gray lands and the corn and wheat lands, de- 
rived from deposits of phyllite, are so nearly alike in 




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Soils of the Uplands. 49 

many respects that they may be discussed together. 
These soils occupy large areas in Frederick, Carroll, 
Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil 
counties. The surface of the country away from the 
larger streams is gently rolling, but becomes hilly and 
broken along the principal streams. The surface 
drainage is good in the entire region. The soils are 
grayish yellow loams, which grade into yellowish clay 
loams. These are naturally productive, but on account 
of their rather light texture they must be farmed care- 
fully or they become exhausted. They are excellent 
corn and wheat soils, and are classed as good general 
farming lands. In Cecil and Harford counties they 
produce fine crops of late tomatoes for canning pur- 
poses. In Montgomery county they were formerly 
used to a considerable extent for growing tobacco. 
They are good grazing lands, and near Washington and 
1 Baltimore the dairy business is extensively carried on. 
In the neighborhood of these cities market gardening 
is also an important industry. The lighter loams, es- 
pecially, yield fine crops of all kinds of vegetables, and 
the nearness to market allows the farmer to haul his 
produce directly to the consumer. Transportation fa- 
cilities are also good. 

WESTERN MARYLAND. 

Western Maryland is divided into three well-marked 
districts from an agricultural point of view. 

The eastern district includes the broad Hagerstown 
Valley and the Middletown and other smaller valleys, 
together with the mountain slopes adjoining. The 
Hagerstown valley has a width of about 20 miles and 
:ontains a large number of excellent farms. The soils 
are red or yellow clay loams or clays derived from the 



50 The State of Maryland. 

weathering of the thick beds of limestone that occur 
there. These soils, by careful cultivation, produce 
large crops of wheat, corn and grass. Thirty-five 
bushels of wheat per acre is not an uncommon yield, 
and from 50 to 100 bushels of corn can be raised. The 
railroad facilities are good in the valley, and Hagers- 
town, a prosperous manufacturing city, is situated in 
the center of the region. In addition to the large pro- 
duction of wheat and corn many cattle are annually 
fattened. 

Along the eastern margin of this valley is the center 
of the famous mountain peach industry. So excellent 
are the shipping facilities that peaches picked in the 
late afternoon are on sale in the New York markets 
the next morning. 

The smaller valleys, of which the Middletown valley 
is the most important, contain good soils, mostly heavy 
loams and clays well adapted to raising corn, wheat 
and grass, which are the principal crops grown. 

The central district is rough and mountainous, and 
the greater portion is thickly wooded and not well 
adapted to farming purposes. The soils of the moun- 
tain ridges are thin and stony and difficult to culti- 
vate. There are, however, some valleys in this region 
that possess limestone soils that are fertile and can 
be made quite productive. The largest of these valleys 
lies 12 miles east of Cumberland, and the strong clay 
soils produce good crops of wheat and timothy hay. 
Other valleys of this region possess shale soils, which 
can be made productive, and there are also large areas 
of hill pasture land which contain shale soils. Along 
the Potomac river and some of the larger creeks, es- 
pecially near Cumberland, there are large tracts of 
alluvial bottom-lands which annually make good yields 



The Allegany Plateau. 51 

of the staple crops. Fruit growing has lately been in- 
troduced in the hilly region east of Cumberland, and 
there are already many large and profitable peach 
orchards. Oats, buckwheat, wheat, rye and potatoes 
are the main crops grown in this part of the State. 

The western district comprises the Allegany Pla- 
teau. The soils may be classed as the red sandstone 
and shale soils, the yellow sandstone soils, the rough 
stony soils of the mountain ridges and the "glades" 
or mountain swamp lands. 

The red sandstone soils occupy large areas in the 
central portion of Garrett county, and the yield of 
crops produced on these soils compares favorably with 
the best class of soils found in the entire State. The 
soil is a heavy red loam that grades into red clay loams. 
These soils occupy rolling valley lands, and produce 
good crops of wheat, corn, oats and buckwheat. The 
Cove country, as it is called in northwest Garrett coun- 
ty, has long been noted as a fine farming section, and 
there are still large areas of these fine soils which can 
be made fully as productive and prosperous as the sec- 
tion just mentioned. 

The yellow sandstone soils comprise the greater por- 
tion of Garrett county and the George's Creek valley, 
in Allegany county, and may be classed as heavy sandy 
loams. They produce good yields of buckwheat, wheat, 
oats, hay and corn. In the native forest the sugar- 
maple abounds, and a large income is derived from the 
sale of maple sugar each spring. These lands are also 
good pasture lands in addition to being well adapted to 
apple orchards. 

The stony mountain soils include the shallow soils 
found along the crests and sides of the principal moun- 
tain ridges of this region. The soils are thin and 



52 The State of Maryland. 

stony, difficult to till and not adapted to general farm- 
ing purposes. They are not extensively cleared, and 
are covered in many places with valuable tracts of 
merchantable timber, especially chestnut 

The "glades" are large swampy tracts of land which 
occur principally in the central portion of the county. 
Formerly the glades were famous cattle pastures dur- 
ing the dry seasons, but now large tracts of glade lands 
have been thoroughly drained and the soils, rich in de- 
cayed organic matter, produce good crops of oats, 
timothy and even corn and wheat. 

In conclusion it may be stated that Maryland has a 
great variety of soils which are adapted to almost any 
crops that will grow in this section of the Unted States. 
The greater portion of the arable land of the State is 
under cultivation and farmed at a fair profit, but there 
are extensive areas, especially in Western and South- 
ern Maryland, where there is room for great agri- 
cultural development. 

The following table shows the annual crop produc- 
tion of Maryland at the present time. The figures 
have been furnished in part by the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture from statistics secured in 
1899, and in part by the Maryland Agricultural Col- 
lege from data obtained in the progress of their in- 
vestigations in the State : 

Corn 580,076 18,562,432 $6,682,476 32.0 

Wheat 759,643 10,710,966 7,283,457 14. 1 

Oats 72,852 1,675,596 502,679 23.0 

Rye 25,234 353,276 201,367 14.0 

Buckwheat .. 7,510 97,630 54,673 13-0 

Potatoes 22,193 1,420,352 724,380 64.0 

Hay 282,992 3 I 9,78i tons. 3,885,339 1.13 tons. 

Tobacco 35,ooo 21,000,000 lbs. 1,470,000 600 lbs. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. 

The most valuable of the possessions of Maryland, 
more valuable than its farms and fields and its forests, 
more valuable than its mines and quarries, is the Ches- 
apeake bay. This magnificent sheet of water pene- 
trates the State from its southern border almost to the 
border of Pennsylvania. Its estuaries stretch from 
either side far into the interior, making a natural high- 
way for the commerce of the world to penetrate farther 
inland than it can do elsewhere in the United States, 
for this is the largest arm of the ocean within the 
boundaries of the Union. Baltimore, situated 200 
miles inland from the ocean, is the seaport of the 
United States which is nearest the great wheat and 
corn fields of the Central Mississippi valley. Not only 
does this bay, of an average width of twenty miles 
and of great depth, furnish a highway for the world's 
commerce to reach the metropolis of Maryland, but 
upon its broad bosom and upon its magnificent trib- 
utaries float a fleet of vessels, steamboats and sailing 
vessels, bearing to market in Baltimore the rich prod- 
ucts of the whole tidewater region of Maryland and 
Virginia and portions of Delaware and North Caro- 
lina. This bay traffic, most of which lands at Light 
Street wharf in Baltimore, is of enormous proportions. 
Upon four blocks of that busy street is concentrated 
perhaps the largest oyster trade and the largest peach 



54 The State of Maryland. 

trade that is to be found in any one center in the world. 
In the same vicinity there is discharged from lines of 
steamers plying to South and Central America and the 
West Indies a vast quantity of tropical fruits, which 
are distributed from that wharf to the various States 
of the Union. The bay and the rivers flowing into it 
afford an avenue to market for the products of all the 
counties of Maryland but seven. Talbot county is so 
penetrated by navigable rivers and. creeks that almost 
every farm has a landing where it can load its crops 
on a vessel to be carried to Baltimore. Many of the 
other counties., notably Kent, Queen Anne's, Dor- 
chester, Somerset and St. Mary's, are also penetrated 
at many places by navigable streams. 

The Chesapeake bay is 200 miles long, with a maxi- 
mum width of 40 miles and an average of less than 20. 
About three-fourths of it lie within the boundaries of 
Maryland, the lower part and the mouth being in Vir- 
ginia. The principal rivers which flow into it from the 
eastern side in Maryland are the Elk, Sassafras, Ches- 
ter, Choptank, Miles, Nanticoke, Wicomico and Poco- 
moke. From the western side are the Patapsco, Gun- 
powder, Severn, West, South, Patuxent and Potomac. 
Into nearly every one of these rivers other navigable 
rivers, creeks or inlets flow. Large vessels, for in- 
stance, are admitted into the center of St. Mary's 
county by Breton's bay, St. George's bay, St. Clem- 
ent's bay, St. Mary's river, the Wicomico river, all of 
them tributaries of the Potomac. Into the head of the 
bay flows the majestic Susquehanna, a mile wide, di- 
viding Cecil from Harford counties, and navigable up 
to Port Deposit, in Cecil county, the seat of the great 
Tome Institute. All along the shore of the Chesapeake 



Chesapeake Fish and Fowl. 55 

and its rivers are the market gardens which supply the 
markets of Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk and, to a 
certain extent, Philadelphia and New York, with veg- 
etables and small fruit and berries. 

But it is not only as a highway for commerce that 
the Chesapeake waters are valuable to Maryland. 
Upon the bosom of the bay and rivers swarm innumer- 
able water fowl, and among them are the famous can- 
vasback ducks and others almost as highly prized, 
which resort to the shores and marshes for wild cel- 
ery, their favorite food, which imparts to their flesh the 
delicate flavor that makes them so highly esteemed. 
There are also wild geese, and in the marshes there are 
myriads of railbirds, reedbirds and ortolans. The 
waters teem with the most delicious food fishes, the 
taking of which gives employment to great numbers of 
men and boats. On the shores of the Potomac are 
hauled in seines quantities of Potomac herring, which, 
when salted, are highly valued and are marketed all 
over the country. In the Susquehanna and the bay in 
the spring countless shad are taken. Other bay fish 
are the white perch, rock, mackerel, croakers, taylors 
or green fish, hog fish, flounders and innumerable 
other varieties. 

The area of the portion of the Chesapeake and its 
tributaries which lies in Maryland is over two thou- 
sand square miles. Of this great area fully one-half, 
or 640,000 acres, is capable of producing oysters, and 
123,000 acres are natural oyster beds. In the last half 
century, it is estimated that fully four hundred mil- 
lion bushels of oysters have been taken from the waters 
of Maryland. Prof. W. K. Brooks, of the Hopkins, 
in his work on the oyster, which is the standard au- 



56 The State of Maryland. 

thority on the subject, estimates that by cultivation 
this amount can be taken each year. At the moderate 
estimate of 50 cents a bushel, this product would be 
worth $200,000,000, or twenty times as much as the 
wheat fields of the State produce, and ten times as 
much as all the staple crops of the State fetch in the 
markets. It is conceded that the Chesapeake bay is the 
finest water in the world for the production of oysters. 
The waters are teeming with the spat, and it is only 
necessary to supply "clutch" for it to attach itself to 
and grow. This is provided by spreading oyster shells 
upon the bottoms. "The Chesapeake bay," says Pro- 
fessor Brooks, "is one of the richest agricultural re- 
gions of the earth, and its fertility can be compared 
only with that of the valleys of the Nile and the 
Ganges and other great rivers. It owes its fertility to 
the very same causes as those which have enabled the 
Nile valley to support a dense human population for 
untold ages without any loss of fertility; but it is 
adopted for producing only one crop — the oyster." 

OYSTER PLANTING. 

At the session of the General Assembly of Maryland 
in 1906 a law was enacted under which the bottoms 
of the bay and rivers are divided into lots and to be 
leased by the State to citizens for the cultivation of 
oysters. By this law a most profitable occupation will 
be opened to thousands of people, who will be engaged 
in raising oysters, planting, taking them from the bot- 
toms, carrying them to market, shucking, packing, 
transporting them and selling them. Lots in county 
waters as small as one acre can be leased, and as small 
as five acres in waters outside county boundaries. No 



Profits of Oyster Planting. 57 

one person can acquire more than ten acres in county- 
waters, nor more than 100 acres in the open waters of 
the bay. The term of the leases is twenty years, and 
the rentals payable to the State are $1 per acre per 
year for the first two years, $2 per acre for the third, 
$3 for the fourth, $4 for the fifth, and after that $5 
per acre per year. The rentals, after payment of the 
cost of administering the law, are to be applied to 
making roads throughout the State. If the reasonable 
expectations of those who proposed and enacted this 
law are fulfilled, then Maryland will become one of 
the wealthiest and most prosperous States of the 
Union, with an enormous increase in population. The 
natural oyster beds are not now producing more than 
five or ten million bushels a year. And yet that out- 
put gives employment to an army of men, women and 
children and to a great fleet of vessels and canoes, and 
constitutes the largest single industry in the State ex- 
cept farming. To increase the yield of oysters ten or 
twenty-fold will make all other occupations seem small 
in proportion. The profits of oyster planting are 
enormous. The new law, it is expected, will open the 
way for men of small means to take up from one to 
ten acres of bottom near the shore, upon which they 
can spread shells in the summer season at small ex- 
pense, and after the second year make an annual profit 
of $400 and upwards to the acre. 

Under the Oyster Culture Law the Board of Public 
Works, May 5, 1906, created the Maryland Shell Fish 
Commission as follows : Walter J. Mitchell, chairman ; 
Benjamin K. Green and Dr. Caswell Grave. Under 
an act of Congress of 1906 the Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor designated Capt. C. C. Yates, of the Coast 



58 The State of Maryland. 

and Geodetic Survey, and Dr. H. F. Moore, of the 
Bureau of Fisheries, to co-operate with the commis- 
sion. The survey of oyster bottoms began in Anne 
Arundel, July 19, 1906. The first hydrographic work 
was in the Severn river. When field work ended, De- 
cember 10, the work of duplicating records, plotting 
outlines of natural oyster bars and making leasing 
charts was begun at Annapolis. The Commission went 
to Crisfield, May 2, to survey the oyster and crabbing 
bottoms of Somerset and buoys were placed. Wicom- 
ico occupied the surveyors from October 2 to 30, and 
buoys were placed at corners of natural bars. Wor- 
cester came next. The following shows the hydro- 
graphic work to October 31, 1907, the end of the last 
fiscal year: 

Number miles of sounding lines 662.4 

Number positions on sounding lines taken 7,348. 

Number soundings taken 54,953- 

Number oyster bars surveyed and examined 128. 

Number acres of oyster ground surveyed 68,333. 

While it is true that the oyster industry in Mary- 
land has greatly diminished in volume, it is still one 
of the chief industries in the State. In the season of 
1 90 1 -2 the oyster product of the State was 3,725,000 
bushels, worth in the market $2,400,000. In 1880 the 
product was 10,500,000 bushels. 

According to the figures collected by the United 
States Fish Commission in 1902, the number of per- 
sons engaged in the Maryland oyster industry were 
31,543, of whom about 20,000 were fishermen, and the 
remaining 11,000 were employed in the packing 
houses. The larger vessels used in dredging or trans- 
portation numbered 1,326, the smaller vessels used by 



Yield of the Fisheries. 59 

tongers numbered 6,548. Total, 7,874 vessels of all 
kinds. 

In the products of the bay the crabs, hard and soft, 
occupy an important place. The chief center of this 
industry is at Crisfield, in Somerset county, and it has 
been estimated that $1,000,000 worth of crabs are 
shipped each year from that town. All along the bay 
shore in the rivers great numbers of crabs are caught, 
and the aggregate is very large. The taking of fish 
and their shipment to market also gives employment 
to many persons and brings in a great sum of money. 

FISHERIES. 

The Fish Commission empty into the Chesapeake 
bay and its tributaries each year from 65,000,000 to 
75,000,000 young fish to support the shad fisheries of 
the State, which depend upon the return of the adult 
shad in the spring of the year. It is estimated that 
2,250,000 or more shad are secured from Maryland 
waters each year. About 750,000 of these are obtained 
from the Potomac, 330,000 from the Pocomoke and 
Tangier sound tributaries, 50,000 from the Patuxent, 
350,000 from the Choptank and its tributaries, 50,000 
from the Chester, while 650,000 are taken on the shores 
of the Chesapeake and its smaller tributaries, leaving 
70,000 or more to be secured from the Susquehanna. 

The principal shad region of the bay shore lies north 
of Swan Point, between it and the lower stretches of 
the Susquehanna. This area yields fully a quarter of 
the entire season's catch. The principal landing points 
for the bay shore fisheries are Havre de Grace, North 
East, Charlestown, Betterton and Rock Hall. The 
Choptank, as above indicated, furnishes about one- 



60 The State of Maryland. 

sixth of the entire catch, while the other rivers with the 
exception of the Potomac, are of less importance. The 
latter stream yields a catch equalling or surpassing that 
of the head of the bay. 

The season begins about the first of April, and ex- 
tends to the last of May or the first of June. The 
largest catches are usually in April. 

The figures for the Potomac are somewhat difficult 
to determine, since by the compact of 1785 the fishery 
rights in the river exist in common between the citi- 
zens of Virginia and Maryland, who land their catch 
in their respective States. In 1896 fully two-thirds of 
the Potomac catch was landed on the Virginia shore. 
The total annual catch within the State is estimated 
to have a value of about $200,000. 

The menhaden is by far the most abundant fish 
along the Atlantic coast of the United States, and in 
many ways one of the most important, but since it is 
not usually regarded as edible it is little known out- 
side of the fishery and fertilizing industries. The men- 
haden is a small fish, seldom weighing a pound, and 
closely related to the herring and the shad. It usually 
makes its appearance in Chesapeake bay early in the 
spring, and rapidly becomes more and more abundant, 
crowding into the sounds and inlets until the water 
is fairly alive with them. They remain as long as the 
weather is warm, but as the winter approaches they 
pass out into the ocean, so that few are found in the 
Chesapeake bay after November. 

They are of great commercial importance from the 
fact that a valuable oil can be extracted from their 
bodies by pressure, while the solid residue is an im- 
portant constituent of manufactured fertilizers. In a 



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Crabs and Terrapin. 61 

single year the catch in Chesapeake bay has been as 
high as 92,000,000 pounds, which has yielded 214,000 
gallons of oil, worth $85,000; 10,500 tons of guano, 
worth $210,000; 212,000 tons of compost, worth 
$19,000, or an annual product worth more than $300,- 
000. 

The number of hard-shell crabs caught in Mary- 
land each year has been estimated at 750,000 bushels. 

At the principal crab-canning centers of Oxford, 
Cambridge and Crisfield, about 350,000 bushels of the 
catch are picked and canned, yielding over 200,000 
gallons of crab meat annually. The crabs, during the 
few hours when their shells are soft, take no food and 
hide themselves in the sand or grass so that soft-shell 
crabs are much less abundant and bring a higher price 
than the hard-shell. Moreover, when the crab is soft 
it is very delicate and easily killed, and is thus trans- 
ported alive with difficulty. The irregularities in the 
daily catch which might arise under these adverse cir- 
cumstances are avoided by the use of "shedding pens," 
which hold the "shedders" until they are soft. An ex- 
perienced fisherman can tell at a glance the yellowish 
female and browner males that are about to shed their 
shells. The price of crabs grows rapidly from ten 
cents a dozen when they are put in the pens to thirty, 
forty or fifty cents when they are put on the market as 
soft-shell crabs. 

The estimated catch each year is 700,000 dozen, val- 
ued at from $300,000 to $350,000. 

Terrapin .—The oyster and the crab suggest the ter- 
rapin as a third characteristic product of the shores of 
the Chesapeake. This expensive little tortoise ranges 
from New England to Texas, but is most abundant in 



62 The State of Maryland. 

the marshy lands from the Chesapeake southward. 
The terrapin is most easily caught in the summer, 
when the demand is slight, so the catch is "farmed" 
in pens and fed with crabs and fish until the winter, 
when as a delicacy the terrapin brings from $2.50 to 
$75.00 per dozen. The value of the annual output for 
the State is estimated at $50,000. 

No account is given in the preceding pages of the 
water products of the ocean front along the shores of 
Worcester county, although the output of oysters and 
fish from this part of the State reaches considerable 
proportions. It was found impossible to secure any 
satisfactory information. 

The subjoined table presents in condensed form 
what is regarded as a fair estimate of the annual catch 
in the Chesapeake, and its value for each of the species 
mentioned : 

Oysters bush. 5,000,000 $3,500,000 

Shad fish 2,250,000 200,000 

Menhaden lbs. 92,000,000 300,000 

Mackerel lbs. 1,200,000 120,000 

Bay Trout lbs. 11,100,000 450,000 

Blue Fish lbs. 4,400,000 260,000 

White Perch lbs. 14,000,000 1,120,000 

Yellow Perch lbs. 11,000,000 440,000 

Fresh Herring lbs. 100,000,000 1,000,000 

Rock Fish lbs. 14,000,000 1,400,000 

Mixed Fish (Flounders, Pike, 

Pickerel, etc.) lbs. 10,000,000 500,000 

Hard-Shell Crabs bush. 750,000 340,000 

Soft-Shell Crabs doz. ' 700,000 325,000 

Terrapin 50,000 

Clams 5,000,000 15,000 

Total $10,020,000 



CHAPTER VI. 



ROAD IMPROVEMENT BY THE STATE. 

On the 19th of September, 1907, the Hon. Austin L. 
Crothers made a speech in Baltimore accepting the 
nomination of his party for the office of Governor of 
the State. In the course of that speech Mr. Crothers 
said: 

"I believe it is entirely practicable by wise economy and 
forethought and without increasing the burdens of the people 
to carry out a scheme of public improvements consisting 
chiefly of the establishment of good roads through every sec- 
tion of the whole State, so that every class and community of 
our people may have an equal share of them. Such a system 
of improvement would not merely add to the convenience, 
prosperity and wealth of all the people, but would be a con- 
stant and growing source of increase of the taxable basis of 
the State. It would furnish, without any advance in the rate 
of taxes, the financial resources for the continued development 
of the material interests of the people and for the strengthen- 
ing of all the foundations of their progress. 

"This is an important subject, which I shall take occasion to 
speak of more fully hereafter in this canvass. I shall only add 
now that I think the time is at hand for the public men and 
leading citizens of Maryland to unite and take the lead in a 
deliberate movement to make the most of the rich and magnifi- 
cent resources of our Commonwealth, to develop them to the 
greatest possible degree and to carry the State forward along 
commercial, industrial and agricultural lines until it is in the 
very van of the progress of the whole country." 

For many years the several counties of the State 
had been making large expenditures upon the roads, 



64 - The State of Maryland. 

amounting in the aggregate to nearly a half million 
dollars each year. The road repairs and construction 
has been so unskilfully done that but little permanent 
improvement has been achieved by these large expend- 
itures, and a reform and improved methods were 
urgently demanded. Therefore the General Assembly 
of Maryland, in response to the repeated recommenda- 
tions of the Governor, at the session of 1908 enacted 
a state road law providing for a general scheme of 
improvement and appropriating $5,000,000 to do the 
work. A loan was authorized to provide this sum and 
the matter was so financed that provision was made 
for this great sum without any immediate increase in 
State taxes. The Commisson to carry out the scheme 
of road improvement was named by the Governor, he 
being ex-ofncio a member, and the work of selecting 
the roads to be improved was speedily begun. The 
Commission contains in its personnel two members of 
the State Geological Survey. Mr. W. W. Crosby, the 
chief engineer of the Highway Division of the Geolog- 
ical Survey, was elected chief engineer of the Road 
Commission and this selection was regarded through- 
out the State as a guarantee that the roads would be 
properly made. 

The Road Commission consists of John M. Tucker, 
president ; Governor Crothers ; Dr. Ira Remsen, Presi- 
dent of the Johns Hopkins University and a member of 
the Geological Survey ; Dr. Wm. Bullock Clark, of the 
Geological Survey; Samuel M. Shoemaker and 
Francis C. Hutton. 

The terms of the main body of the new road law 
exclusive of the formal portions are as follows : 



The State Road Law. 65 

32A. The Governor is hereby authorized and directed to 
appoint promptly upon the passage of this Act, three compe- 
tent persons, citizens and residents of this State, and to desig- 
nate two men from the Maryland Geological and Economic 
Survey, or its officers or employees, who, with the Governor, 
ex-officio, shall constitute a special commission to be known 
as the "State Road Commission" and who shall continue in 
office until the work of said commission shall have been com- 
pleted as herein provided. The Governor shall have the power, 
in his discretion, to remove any member of said commission 
at any time and to appoint another person in his stead and to 
fill any vacancy in said commission occasioned by the resigna- 
tion, removal, death, incapacity, permanent absence from this 
State of any member of said commission, or by reason of any 
other cause creating a vacancy. The majority of the members 
of said commission shall be a lawful quorum for the transac- 
tion of business. The chairman of said commission shall be 
designated by the Governor from the members thereof, and 
[ the Governor shall also have power to remove such chairman 
and to appoint another in his stead in his discretion. The 
chairman of said commission shall preside over its meetings 
and perform such other duties as are imposed on him by this 
Act or as may be assigned to him by said commission. The 
members of said commission, other than the Governor, the 
chairman and the two men designated by the Governor from 
the Maryland Geological and Economic Survey, its officers 
or members, shall each receive as compensation for their 
services a salary of two thousand dollars ($2,000) per annum, 
payable in equal monthly installments, and the chairman shall 
receive a compensation at the rate of twenty-five hundred 
dollars ($2,500) per annum, payable in equal monthly install- 
ments. The commissioners, other than the Governor, shall 
take the oath prescribed by Article 1, section 6, of the Con- 
stitution of the State. As soon as the members of said com- 
mission shall have met and qualified they shall organize by the 
election of a secretary, not a member of said commission, who 
shall be removable at the pleasure of said commission, and 
who shall receive such compensation as the commission shall 
determine, not exceeding the sum of eighteen hundred dollars 



66 The State of Maryland. 

($1,800) per annum. He shall enter in the journal of said com- 
mission and shall carefully preserve neat, legible, full and ac- 
curate minutes of all meetings and records of all proceedings 
of said commission, and make true copies of all notices 
directed by said commission to be published and of the certi- 
ficates of publication thereof, and shall perform such other 
duties as shall appertain to the office of secretary of a private 
corporation or as are imposed on him by this Act, or as may 
be assigned to him by said commission. All records of said 
commission shall be public records, and the commission shall, 
annually, make to the Governor a detailed report of its official 
transactions, and of all its expenditures and of all liabilities 
incurred by it. The said commission may employ such chief 
engineer, assistant engineer, professional or technical experts, 
surveyors, agents, assistants, clerks, employees and laborers, 
skilled and unskilled, and also such advisers and consultants 
as it may deem requisite for the performance and execution 
of the powers and duties imposed and conferred by this Act, 
and shall fix their respective compensations, and shall have 
the power to remove or discharge them at its pleasure ; and to 
exact from them or any of them such indemnity bonds for the 
faithful performance of their respective duties as the commis- 
sion may deem proper. And said commission may also rent 
or lease all proper and necessary offices and other places which 
it may deem proper and necessary for the performance of its 
duties and the purposes of this Act. The said commission 
shall keep a journal in which shall be entered all its proceed- 
ings in detail, the correctness of the same to be attested at 
each succeeding meeting by the president and secretary of 
the commission. Said commission shall also Keep books show- 
ing in detail all expenditures of money in every county of the 
State in connection with the establishment, improvement or 
maintenance of roads, and in connection witn all work whatso- 
ever of the commission, which books and records shall be open 
to the inspection of any taxpayer of the State at any time. No 
member of said commission shall become pecuniarily inter- 
ested in any contract for work done or materials provided in 
connection with any of the work of said commission. The 
commission shall at the time of its organization, as aforesaid, 



The State Road Law. 67 

and thereafter from time to time, adopt such by-laws and rules 
of procedure for the conduct of its business as it may deem 
necessary. It shall annually compile and publish maps and 
statistics relating to the public roads of the State and show- 
ing the progress and status of the work done or entered upon 
by it and separately for the several counties. All maps, plans 
and statistics made, collected and compiled under its discretion 
shall be preserved in its office and shall be open to the inspec- 
tion of any taxpayer of the State. All bills or claims on ac- 
count of any of the work of the said commission or in any 
way relating to its duties or transactions shall be passed upon 
by the commission at a meeting of its members, and no claim 
involving the expenditure of more than fifty dollars, and no 
contract involving a larger expenditure than fifty dollars, shall 
be allowed or made except by a majority vote of all members 
of the commission at a meeting thereof; all contracts, agree- 
ments, grants, licenses made or entered into by the commis- 
sion shall be recorded in books kept for that purpose, which 
shall always be open to the inspection of the public. It shall 
be the duty of the members of the commission to travel over 
and personally inspect the public highways in the several parts 
of the State and the work being done on the same, in order 
that they may have, as far as possible, personal knowledge 
of the requirements of the several sections of the State in 
reference to the matter of roads as well as of the progress 
from time to time of the work of said commission. 

32B. The commission created under this Act is hereby 
authorized and directed to include in its work of improving 
the system of main roads of the State, the improvement of 
such portions of the main roads selected by said commission 
as a part of such system as lie inside the limits of the city of 
Baltimore, up to the old city limits, provided that on comple- 
tion of such improvements, the portions of the roads so im- 
proved within the city limits shall be city streets under the 
provisions of the city charter. The said commission, in addi- 
tion to the powers hereinbefore mentioned, shall have full 
powers and be charged with the full duties to select, con- 
struct, improve and maintain such a general system of 
improved State roads and highways, as can reasonably be 
expected to be completed with the funds herein provided 



68 The State of Maryland. 

in and through all the counties of this State. The said 
commission shall reach its conclusions as to the selec- 
tion of the roads to be improved on or before May 1st, 1909, 
and shall on or before that date file with County Commis- 
sioners of each county for public inspection a certified copy of 
a map of the State showing plainly thereon the adopted sys- 
tem of main roads to be improved under this Act, which map 
shall bear the written approval of the said commission. It 
may make all preliminary investigations ; and do all such pre- 
liminary work as shall, in the judgment of such commission, 
precede the actual establishment, construction and improve- 
ment of said system of roads and highways, adopt and employ 
such means, methods or system of road construction, improve- 
ment and development as may, in its judgment, be best calcu- 
lated to promote the objects of this Act; condemn, lay out, 
open, establish, construct, extend, widen, straighten, grade and 
improve, in any manner, any main road, of the system, in any 
county of this State and establish, or fix the width thereof; 
cause to be prepared such surveys, plans, drawings or maps 
as it may deem proper in the course of its work; acquire for 
the State of Maryland, by agreement, gift, grant, purchase or 
condemnation proceedings as prescribed by section 251 to 256 
inclusive, or by section 360 to 366 inclusive of Article 23 of 
the Code of 1904, of the Public General Laws, any private 
road or roads whatsoever, or private property or rights of 
drainage for public use, whether belonging to private indi- 
viduals or to turnpike companies or other corporations, and 
including any avenues, roads, lanes, or thoroughfares, rights 
or interests, franchises, privileges or easements, that may be, 
in its judgment, desirable or necessary to complete said sys- 
tem of roads or to carry out the purposes of this Act; con- 
tract with any person or persons, company or corporation, 
either private or quasi-public, or municipal, in furtherance of 
the duties and objects of this Act or any of the same; employ 
all necessary attorneys, consultants, agents, laborers, help and 
assistants, skilled and unskilled, technical or professional, for 
the promotion of any of the work with which it is charged 
hereunder, make and enter into any and all contracts, agree- 
ments or stipulations germane to the scope of its duties and 
powers under this Act; and purchase all machines, machinery, 



The State Road Law. 69 

tools, implements, appliances, supplies, materials and working 
agencies whatsoever which it may deem necessary for the 
full performance and completion of any of the powers con- 
ferred and duties imposed upon said commission, or which 
may be germane to the same or to the purposes and objects of 
this Act. And where rights, easements and franchises of the 
United Railways and Electric Company of Baltimore, its suc- 
cessors and assigns exist upon any turnpike or private right 
of way in the Annex, which may be improved hereunder, then 
said rights, easements, and franchises may (if the Mayor and 
City Council of Baltimore and said Railways Company, its 
successors and assigns fail to agree upon terms of purchase 
or surrender), be condemned by the Mayor and City Council 
of Baltimore under the provisions of Chapter 274 of the Acts 
of 1904 and Chapter 566 of the Acts of 1906, or in the exercise 
of its general powers of condemnation, the cost thereof to be 
defrayed out of the loan provided for in said first mentioned 
Act, or out of the ordinary proceeds of municipal taxation; 
provided, however, that the provisions of said Act of 1906 
shall be obligatory upon, and not discretionary with, the 
Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and the Board of Esti- 
mates and the price to be charged for new rights, franchises 
and easements similar to those condemned, shall be the same 
as the amount of the condemnation award. 

32C. If the State Roads Commission shall determine that 
the public necessity or convenience, or that the purposes of 
this Act require that any turnpike, or part thereof, whether 
maintained as such by any turnpike company or otherwise, or 
whether formerly maintained as such and now abandoned by 
any turnpike company, or that any public road in whole or in 
part in any county or counties, and forming a section of a 
through route or continuous thoroughfare between two or 
more important points in the State, should be taken charge of 
by said commission for the State for the purpose of this Act, 
then, as to such public road or abandoned or acquired turn- 
pike, whether acquired by purchase or condemnation, the said 
commission shall file a certified copy of the plan thereof in the 
office of the County Commissioners for the county or the sev- 
eral counties in which said section or sections of road or turn- 
pike may be situated, and setting forth its purpose to acquire 



70 The State of Maryland. 

and to take over the same, and said commission thereupon, 
without any further proceedings, shall acquire and take over 
any such and all county roads, turnpikes or sections thereof 
or interests or rights therein, as in its judgment may be neces- 
sary or proper for the purpose of this Act, and with full power 
to widen, relocate, change or alter the grade or location 
thereof; and said commission shall have full power so to take 
over and take possession of any county road or abandoned 
turnpike, and to accept by gift or surrender, and to acquire by 
purchase or condemnation any and all existing turnpikes or 
any sections thereof, or any rights or interests therein, sub- 
ject to any outstanding occupation, use or franchise of any 
electric railway company or other public service corporations; 
and thereafter all highways, however acquired hereinunder, 
shall be State highways and shall be constructed, improved 
and maintained by said commission for the State and at its 
expense, except as provided in section 32B. 

32D. The said commission, when about to construct or 
improve in any manner any highway, shall give the County 
Commissioners of each county in which it lies a certified copy 
of plans and specifications therefor, and a notice that said com- 
mission is about to enter upon and proceed with the work in 
question. Said commission shall thereupon advertise for at 
least two weeks in one or more newspapers published in each 
county in which the highway lies and for three consecutive 
issues in at least one daily newspaper published in Baltimore 
city, for sealed proposals- for the construction or other im- 
provement of said highway, accurately describing the same 
and stating the time and place for opening said proposals, and 
reserving the right to reject any and all proposals; said pro- 
posals shall be publicly opened at the time specified in said 
advertisement, and the contract for such work or for the sup- 
plies and materials required for such construction or improve- 
ment shall be awarded by the commission to the lowest re- 
sponsible bidder, unless, in the opinion of said commission, the 
interests of the State will be better served by awarding the 
contract to some other bidder, when this may be done; but 
said commission shall not be required so to advertise for pro- 
posals or to award any contract for any work or for any mate- 
rials or supplies for any amount less than five hundred dol- 



The State Road Law. 71 

lars ($500) in the aggregate. The construction and improve- 
ment of all State highways or parts thereof shall be under 
the supervision and subject to the approval of the said com- 
mission, in accordance with plans and specifications prepared 
by the chief engineer and approved by said commission. In 
all cases where the contract for work and materials shall be 
given out after competitive bidding the successful bidder shall 
promptly execute a formal contract to be approved as to its 
form, terms and conditions by said commission, and shall also 
execute and deliver to said commission a good and sufficient 
bond to be approved by said commission to the State of Mary- 
land in not less than the amount of the contract price. To 
all such bids there shall be attached the certified check of the 
bidder, and the bidder who has the contract awarded to him 
and who fails to promptly and properly execute the contract 
and bond shall forfeit the said contract. The said check shall 
be taken and considered as liquidated damages, and not a 
penalty for failure of said bidder to execute said contract and 
bond. Upon the execution of said contract and bond by a 
successful bidder his check shall be returned to him. The 
amount of said check shall be five hundred dollars. The checks 
of the unsuccessful bidders shall be returned to them after 
opening the bids and awarding the contract to the successful 
bidder; provided, however, that said commission, with the 
consent of a majority of all its members, may itself do any 
part or parts of any such work under such conditions in every 
respect as it may prescribe, by day labor, whenever the chief 
engineer, in writing, shall recommend that course. 

32E. That said commission shall keep all State highways 
reasonably clear of brush and maintain same in good condi- 
tion; shall cause suitable shade trees to be planted thereon, 
if practicable, and may establish and maintain watering 
troughs upon said highways. No opening shall be made in any 
such highway, nor shall any structure be placed thereon, nor 
shall any structure which has been placed thereon be changed 
or renewed, except in accordance with a permit from the com- 
mission, which shall exercise complete control over such high- 
ways, except as herein otherwise provided. No State high- 
way shall be dug up for laying or placing pipes, sewers, poles, 
wires, or railways, or for other purposes, and no trees shall 



72 The State of Maryland. 

be planted or removed or obstruction placed thereon without 
the written permit of the State Roads Commission, or its duly 
authorized agent, and then only in accordance with the regu- 
lations of said commission; and the work shall be done under 
the supervision and to the satisfaction of said commission; 
and the entire expense of replacing the highway in as good 
condition as before shall be paid by the person to whom the 
permit, was given or by whom the work was done; provided, 
however, that no electric railway company in operation upon 
any public or private road or existing or abandoned turnpike 
when acquired hereunder shall be disturbed in its operation or 
in the maintenance of its roadbed and overhead construction 
and all necessary repairs together with the maintenance of the 
space between its tracks and two feet on each side thereof shall 
be performed by such railroad company under the supervision 
and to the satisfaction of said commission. Said commission 
may give suitable names to the State highways and may 
change the name of any highway which becomes a part of a 
State highway. They shall erect suitable guideposts at con- 
venient points along State highways. 

32F. Each county in which a State highway, or any sec- 
tion thereof, lies, shall at its own expense keep such highway 
sufficiently clear of snow and of other obstructions except ice, 
to be reasonably safe for travel. The county shall have police 
jurisdiction of and for all State highways within its limits, 
and shall forthwith give notice in writing to the State Roads 
Commission of any defect or want of repair in such highway 
or highways. 

32G. The commission herein provided for is authorized in 
its discretion to call upon the State Geological and Economic 
Survey Commission for such plats, surveys and information 
as it may desire, and may also, with the consent of the Mary- 
land Geological and Economic Survey, turn over to said Sur- 
vey the work of awarding any contracts for work under this 
Act together with the supervision of such work under such 
contracts so awarded by said Maryland Geological and Econ- 
omic Survey, or the State Road Commission may authorize 
said State Geological and Economic Survey with the consent 
of said Survey, in accordance with the powers already in it 
vested, to itself perform any work determined upon by said 
commission, without an award of a contract for the same to 




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Shoemaker Road Law. 73 

a contractor, if in the judgment of the commission such work 
will be so done better or more advantageously to the State; 
and the commission herein provided for is authorized to re- 
imburse the State Geological and Economic Survey Commis- 
sion for any and all expense it may be put to and for any and 
all work done upon such terms as said two commissions may 
agree to be right and proper in the premises. 

The other sections of the law make provision for the 
issue of the bonds of the State for the sum of $5,000,- 
000 to carry out the provisions of the law. 

THE SHOEMAKER ROAD LAW. 

The purpose of the Maryland State Aid Road Law, 
Act of Assembly, 1904, Chapter 225, is to encourage 
in a practical way the gradual building up of a system 

1 of good roads in all parts of the State. By its pro- 
visions the State offers to pay one-half the cost of 
such roads by the annual appropriation of $200,000, 
to be allotted among the several counties in the direct 
proportion which the public road mileage of the 
county bears to the total public road mileage of the 
State. 

Wherever a county does not take up its full allot- 
ment of State aid, the balance is to be reapportioned 
among such remaining counties as are ready to take 
up a further allotment in proportion to their public 

I road mileage. By this means some counties may 
secure a larger sum than given in the first general 
allotment. 

A county may secure State aid in the following 
manner: The County Commissioners petition the 
State Commission for aid to build a certain piece of 
road. If it is found, upon examination by the State 
Commission, that the road in question is one of gen- 



74 The State of Maryland. 

eral public convenience and a proper one to construct, 
an estimate of the cost of the improvement is made, 
together with plans, specifications, etc., for doing 
the work. This is undertaken by the County Com- 
missioners either by contract, or, if the prices for 
doing it in this manner are considered too high, then 
in other ways that they may deem best. 

After the work is done according to the specifica- 
tions, and the State Commission has so certified to 
the Comptroller, then one-half of the cost of con- 
structing the road will be paid by the State to the 
county building the road ; but in no case is the amount 
paid by the State to exceed one-half of the cost, as 
shown by the estimate of the cost of the work as 
first made by the State Commission. It is also pro- 
vided that the owners of two-thirds of the lands bind- 
ing upon any public road or section of road, not less 
than a mile long, can compel the County Commis- 
sioners to petition for the construction of the piece 
of road, provided that the owners petitioning have 
paid or have pledged 10 per cent, of the cost. The 
work then proceeds as already described, except that 
the County Commissioners cannot be compelled by 
this payment of 10 per cent, by property holders to 
contract for work to an amount greater than one- 
fourth of the road levy of the county. This 10 per 
cent, subscription is optional with each holder of 
property binding upon the road which it is desired to 
improve, and in no instance can any property holder 
be compelled to bear any part of the amount pledged. 

The following table shows the allotment of the 
State road appropriation to the counties, according 
to their public road mileage as determined by the 
Maryland Geological Survey, as required by the law: 



Allotment of Road Funds. 



STATE FUND FOR ROADS. 



75 



Allotment to Counties of Maryland made by Geological 
Survey, according to their Public Road Mileage. 



Counties. 


Mileage. 


Allotment. 


Counties. Mileage. 


Allotment. 


Allegany . 


• 693 


$8,967.39 


[Kent 


427 


$5,525-36 


Anne Arun 


.. 521 


6,741.72 


Mntgomfy 


798 


10,326.09 


Baltimore 


• i,"9 


14,479.81 


P. George's 


892 


11,542.44 


Calvert . . . 


• 335 


4,334-89 


Q. Anne's 


■ 563 


7,285.20 


Caroline . . 


. 547 


7,078.16 


St. Mary's 


602 


7,789.85 




. 770 


9,96377 


Somerset . 


464 


6,004.14 


Cecil 


. 638 


8,255-69 


Talbot .... 


397 


5,i37-i6 


Charles . . . 


• 465 


6,017.08 


Washington 


695 


8,993-27 


Dorchester 


600 


7,763.98 


Wicomico . 


772 


9,089.65 


Frederick . 


• 1,151 


14,893.89 


Worcester 


832 


10,766.05 




. 940 


12,163.56 












Harford . . 


. 822 


10,636.65 


Total .... 


15,456 


$200,000.00 


Howard . . 


• 413 


5,344-20 









Under this law down to January 1, 1908, work had 
been nearly completed on 83 miles of road in various 
parts of the State, at a cost of $558,000. The sur- 
facing on these roads was as follows : 



Broken stone. . .357,877 sq. yds. 

Marl 5,946 " " 

travel 41,290 " " 



Shell 27,956 sq. yds. 

Sand and clay. . 5,400 " " 



Referring to this work Mr. W. W. Crosby, the State 
Road Engineer, in his report for 1907, said : 

"The precedent for the State's assuming directly the 
j expense and responsibility of a through road between import- 
ant points was established in the so-called 'Hill Law,' which 
provided for the improvement of the old Baltimore- Washing- 
ton Turnpike, sometime ago abandoned as a tollroad. The 
condition of the road had been steadily growing worse, and 
the Act appropriated the sum of $30,000 annually for the years 
1906, 1907, and 1908 toward its improvement, with the pro- 



76 The State of Maryland. 

visions that as the State took hold of a section, it thereupon 
passed from the county or town into the direct control of the 
State authorities. 

"Realizing that the total appropriation carried by the Act 
would be insufficient to complete the improvement of the 
whole of the 30 miles of the road, especially in view of the 
desirability of abolishing, if possible, all seven of the present 
dangerous steam-railway grade-crossings, this Commission 
felt that the public interest would be best served by the expen- 
diture of the appropriations on those sections then in the 
worst condition, and on which no questions of change in 
permanent location had arisen or seemed likely to come up. 

It was clear from the language of the Act that substantial 
work was called for and an attempt has been made to secure 
modern and thorough work at the least possible cost compati- 
ble with its importance. It is understood that the results on 
the road are satisfactory to those familiar with them. If the 
work of improving this road is to be completed between the 
limits of Baltimore City and the District of Columbia, the 
further appropriation of not less than $150,000 will be neces- 
sary." 

In 1906 the Legislature appropriated $90,000 to con- 
struct a fine road from Baltimore to Washington and 
authorized the employment of prisoners in the House 
of Correction. The work to be done under the super- 
vision of the State Highways Bureau. 

The Legislature in 1908 made provision for continu- 
ing this great work and it has progressed rapidly and 
will shortly connect Baltimore with the capital of the 
country by a magnificent highway. Labor being very 
scarce during the first year of this work an experiment 
was made by employing prisoners from the House of 
Correction, which lies near the line of the road, about 
midway its length. This experiment was entirely suc- 
cessful. 



CHAPTER VII. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

The State Geological and Economic Survey is 
established for the purpose of examining the geo- 
logical formations and mineral resources of the State 
of Maryland with special reference to their economic 
products and for the preparation of reports and maps 
illustrating the character and distribution of the 
mineral resources. The survey maintains a highway 
division under special Acts of the General Assembly. 
It likewise carries on work in hydrography, forestry, 
terrestrial magnetism and the mapping of the agri- 
cultural soils in co-operation with the national gov- 
ernment. The most important feature of this joint 
work is the preparation and publication by counties 
of a topographic map of the State on the scale of 
one mile to one inch. It is also empowered by the 
State road law of 1908 to do the work of constructing 
roads under the $5,000,000 loan should the Road Com- 
mission commit the work to it. 

A bureau known as the State Highway Division 
is connected with the Geological Survey, and it has 
charge of the construction of roads under the Shoe- 
maker Road Law and of the highway between Balti- 
more and Washington. 

In 1906 the Legislature established a State Forestry 
Commission, which is to promote the cultivation 
and care of trees and the preservation of game. 

The effect of the Geological Survey upon the materi- 
al welfare of the State is indicated by the increase of 



78 The State of Maryland. 

the mineral output since the survey was established in 
1896. 

The following table shows the value of the various 

Maryland mineral products each year from 1896 to 
1907: 

VALUE OF THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF MINERAL PRODUCTS, 1896-I907. 

Year. Coal. Stone. l l[ ?} and S ^nd and Lime and 

Feldspar. Gravel. Cement. 

1896 $3,299,928 $457,764 • $365477 

1897 3,363,996 458,811 286,441 

1898 3,532,257 703,873 399,938 

1899 3,667,056 636,547 372,322 

1900 3,927,381 727,640 $33,420 421,745 

IOOI 5,046,491 866,524 45,929 488,322 

1902 5,579,869 1,113,854 83,236 487,597 

1903 7,189,784 1,126,992 86,898 469,113 

1904 5,729,085 ,1,160,676 98,867 $219,268 345,329 

1905 5,831,760 1,409,053 75,552 436,828 393,741 

1906 6,474,793 1,370,924 126,832 285,797 383,135 

1907 6,623,697 i,54i,330 90,860 277,106 404,794 

VALUE OF THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF MINERAL PRODUCTS, 1896-I907. 

Ores (p-old Miscellan- 

Clay and „,w-w-J ;L~., \iri„^^ eous (soap- 

Year. Clay ^eral' Water! sto " e - TotaL 
Products. ™S Waters " talc, marl, 
P alnt J- silica, etc.) 

1896 $1,595,055 $53,304 $58,339 $4,631 $5,834,498 

1897 1,312,889 27,660 21,185 4,747 5,475,729 

1898 1,254,860 18,862 29,779, 4,531 5,344,i5o 

1899 1,683,596 26,557 13,045 io,344 6,409,467 

1900 1,714,234 67,429 36,849 10,845 6,939,543 

1901 1,613,663 45,135 57,68o 11,500 8,175,244 

1902 1,915,417 61,826 45,ioo 5,500 9,282,339 

1903 1,921,821 33,612 45,9i8 9,360 10,883,498 

1904 1,886,277 25,421 44,320 5,850 9,515,093 

1905 2,282,856 35,152 44,627 6,782 10,516,351 

1906 2,178,617 15,624 58,334 21,416 10,915,472 

1907 1,863,316 37,767 86,606 35,350 10,960,826 






Coal and the Geological Survey. 79 

The average number of men employed in coal min- 
ing in Maryland increased from 4039 in 1896 to 6438 
in 1906. The number was somewhat less in 1907, 
amounting to only 5880, according to the reports re- 
ceived. 

The total tonnage of coal mined in Maryland to the 
close of 1907 is estimated at about 132,000,000 long 
tons which, at an average price of $1 per ton, repre- 
sents a total value of $132,000,000. 

The work of the State Geological and Economic 
Survey covers a wide field including geological investi- 
gations, highway engineering, topographic surveying, 
the mapping of the distribution of the various types of 
agricultural soils and forest growths, and a study of 
the hydrography and terrestrial magnetism of the 
State. These several lines of work have been provided 
for by successive acts of the General Assembly. 

The geological investigations comprise an examina- 
tion of the geological .formations and mineral deposits 
of the State with special reference to their economic 
products, and reports and maps are published from 
time to time showing their character and distribution. 
Detailed reports on the coals, clays and building stones 
have been issued. 

The highway work is conducted under special acts 
of the General Assembly, the most important being a 
State Aid Highway Law passed in 1904 by which the 
State contributes one-half towards the cost of county 
roads built under its supervision. The survey is also 
engaged in the construction of a State highway be- 
tween Baltimore and Washington. A laboratory is 
connected with the bureau in which tests are made for 
the various counties and municipalities of the State. 



80 The State of Maryland. 

The topographic surveying, which has been carried 
on in co-operation with the national government for 
several years, is now nearly completed, maps on the 
scale of one mile to one inch having already been is- 
sued for Allegany, Garrett, Baltimore, Cecil, Harford, 
Prince George's, Worcester, St. Mary's Calvert, Kent, 
Wicomico, Talbot, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Somerset, 
Anne Arundel, and Dorchester counties, as well as of 
Baltimore and vicinity. A large State road map has 
also been prepared on the scale of three miles to one 
inch on which all cities, towns and villages are shown 
together with the chief highways, railroads and steam- 
boat lines. 

The work on the agricultural soils, forestry, hydrog- 
raphy, and terrestrial magnetism is conducted in co- 
operation with the national government and with other 
State organizations, and already a number of reports 
and maps have been issued on these subjects. 

MARYLAND WEATHER SERVICE. 

The Maryland State Weather Service is conducted 
in co-operation with the United States Weather 
Bureau, Dr. Fassig, the meteorologist in charge, be- 
ing the chief United States Weather Bureau official in 
Baltimore. The State service is occupied with a study 
of special problems connected with the climatology of 
the State and is now engaged in the conduct of a 
botanical survey in which the relations of plant growth 
to climate are being investigated. 

STATE TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM. 

An important piece of constructive legislation ac- 
complished in Maryland in late years was the law es- 
tablishing the Tuberculosis Sanatorium, enacted at the 



State Care of Consumptives. 81 

session of 1906. This law began the care of con- 
sumptives by the State, and as the disease has been 
proved curable in its early stages, the good which 
can and probably will be accomplished is enormous. 
Under the law a commission established an institution 
known as the Maryland Tuberculosis Sanatorium in 
the mountains of Maryland, in Frederick county near 
Sabillasville. The sum of $115,000 was appropriated 
by the Legislature for the establishment of the san- 
atorium and for its maintenance in 1906 and $265,000 
in 1908. Of the total appropriation of $380,000, 
$265,000 was for buildings and land. And it is the 
design that consumptive patients shall be cared for 
free of charge. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of 
Maryland the climate is especially favorable to the cure 
of consumption, and not only will cures be effected, 
but by removing patients from their families the spread 
of the diesease will be diminished. 

The movement on the part of the State of Maryland 
to check the ravages of tuberculosis first found official 
expression in an extended discussion of the subjcet in 
the message of Gov. John Walter Smith to the General 
Assembly of 1902. The Governor placed himself on 
record as advocating legislative action, and the General 
Assembly at the same session authorized the appoint- 
ment of a commission by the Governor to investigate 
"the prevalence, distribution and causes of human 
tuberculosis in the State of Maryland, to determine its 
relation to the public welfare, and to devise ways and 
means for restricting and controlling said disease." 
This commission served without pay, and an appro- 
priation of $4,000 was made for expenses. Governor 
Smith appointed Dr. Lillian Welsh, Dr. W. Frank 



82 The State of Maryland. 

Hines, Mr. George Stewart Brown, Mr. John M. Glenn 
and Dr. William A. Thayer members of the commis- 
sion. Governor Smith renewed his recommendation 
to the General Assembly of 1904, and Governor War- 
field also manifested interest in the subject, and the 
Legislature of 1904 continued the life of the commis- 
sion and made an additional appropriation of $2,000 
to pay its expenses. 

Governor Warfield appointed Dr. Lillian Welsh, 
Mr. John M. Glenn, Dr. William A. Thayer, Dr. H. 
Warren Buckler and Mr. Daniel W. Hopper members 
of the second commission. In 1906 the Legislature 
provided $100,000 for the construction of a tubercu- 
losis sanatorium, and the further sum of $15,000 for 
its support. The sanatorium was placed in charge of 
a Board of Managers, consisting of the Board of 
Public Works, and six members appointed by the 
Governor, who selected a site for the sanatorium on 
the top of Loop Mountain, near Sabillasville, Freder- 
ick County, on the line of the Western Maryland 
Railroad. The cottage system was adopted for the 
patients' quarters, and already a large administration 
building and infirmary and four cottages for patients 9 
sleeping quarters have been completed, giving the 
hospital a present capacity of about one hundred 
patients, with room for doctors, nurses and other 
attendants. Four additional cottages will be com- 
pleted by the early fall, giving an increased capacity 
of about eighty more patients. The buildings will be 
heated by steam, lighted by electricity and furnished 
with improved plumbing apparatus. The site of the 
hospital is on a farm of 198 acres, which the commis- 
sion purchased for $10,250. Upon the farm there are 



State Tuberculosis Hospital. 83 

three large springs. Water will flow to the building 
from a reservoir on the mountain. Arrangements are 
being made for the construction of a farmer's cottage 
and a barn, and the power plant, laundry and steam 
heating plant are rapidly nearing completion. The 
Legislature of 1908, Chapter 255, appropriated the 
sum of $130,000 for further additions to the buildings 
for the fiscal year of 1909 and $40,000 for mainten- 
ance, and $35,000 for buildings for the fiscal year of 
19 10, and $60,000 for maintenance for the fiscal year 
of 1910. The Board of Managers was also increased 
by one member to be appointed by the Governor, and 
Samuel K. Dennis was appointed to that position. The 
present members of the board and their official posi- 
tions are as follows : John Walter Smith, President ; 
Dr. H. Warren Buckler, Vice-President; Samuel K. 
Dennis, Secretary-Treasurer; His Excellency Austin 
L. Crothers, Comptroller Joshua W. Hering, Treasurer 
Murray Vandiver, Dr. Charles M. Ellis, Dr. Henry 
Barton Jacobs, Dr. Guy Steele, Dr. Charles H. Conley, 
Dr. Bayard T. Crane, Superintendent; Miss Carolyn 
C. VanBlarcom, Superintendent of Nurses. 

In addition to this provision for a State hospital an 
appropriation of $15,000 for the year 1907 was given 
by the Legislature to the "Hospital for Consumptives 
of Maryland," an institution already established and 
doing a good work. Of this sum $10,000 is to be used 
in the erection of buildings in the mountain regions of 
the State and $5,000 for maintenance. 

For the year 1908 the appropriation was $20,000, 
$15,000 of which is for buildings and $5),ooo for main- 
tenance. Thus the Legislature appropriated in 1906 
no less than $150,000 to begin the work of fighting and 



84 The State of Maryland. 

eradicating the most deadly malady with which the 
people of Maryland are afflicted, and in 1908 a still 
larger sum. The interest in this subject and the favor- 
able action of the Legislature were largely due to the 
disinterested and patriotic work of Senator John 
Walter Smith. 

MARYLAND STATE BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION. 

The State of Maryland maintains a Bureau of 
Immigration, whose duty it is to give all possible 
assistance to the farming interests of the State. It 
was organized in 1896 and has done excellent work. 
The bureau advertises the advantages of the farming 
section and brings a good class of agriculturists from 
the United States and abroad to our farm lands. It 
assists the settlers and all the farmers by providing 
farm labor. The bureau is conducted by a commis- 
sion, the secretary of which must be able to converse 
in several languages and be well informed about the 
State. The duties of the superintendent and secre- 
tary are prescribed by law. The office, which is 
located in Baltimore City, was visited last year by 
nearly 4,000 people seeking information. All pros- 
pective buyers of Maryland farms consider the 
Bureau of Immigration as their objective point, when 
they arrive from the West or from Europe, and they 
find always some one in charge to direct and advise 
them. 

A number of distinct settlements of people from the 
West and from Europe have sprung up in several coun- 
ties during the last few years and all are very success- 
ful. There are farmers from Illinois along the Pa- 
tuxent river in Prince George's County, who raise bet- 
ter corn than in their former homes. 



New Settlers in Maryland. 85 

In Charles County is a colony of Danes, whose work 
in that section of the State can be designated as model- 
farming'. 

A progressive section of Southern Maryland is in 
Anne Arundel County. The Bureau of Immigration 
settled here a number of Europeans, among them a 
gentleman from Germany, who purchased over 1000 
acres near Woodwardville, about half way between 
Baltimore and Washington and improved the land to 
such an extent that the value increased from $20 to $40 
per acre. A settlement of Austrians, all good farmers, 
can be found on that fine stretch of land west of South 
river in Anne Arundel county, not far from Annapolis. 

The German speaking element is increasing in this 
part of the State and a German church will be erected 
near Bowie; the congregation already being organized 
by an ordained minister. 

There are several settlements of German farmers in 
Caroline county and one of them in the neighborhood 
of Preston has a church and school. These new set- 
tlers have prospered and have helped to build a bank, 
a town hall, several packing establishments, a creamery 
and other enterprises near Preston. Land, which was 
sold several years ago for $20 per acre, has been so 
advanced by improving it that now several farmers 
can get $60 per acre and more. 

Talbot county has also several settlements of ex- 
perienced western farmers, who have met with great 
success, especially near Cordova and Longwoods, 
where two German churches have been erected. 

A colony of Hollanders has been started along the 
Choptank river, and not far from here some gentlemen 
from Long Island started three duck-farms with such 



86 The State of Maryland. 

success that one of them shipped 10,000 young ducks 
to New York hotels in the spring of 1903 and received 
$1 apiece in the beginning of the season. 

A number of wealthy gentlemen from New York, 
Illinois and Wisconsin have located on the many beau- 
tiful inlets from the Chesapeake Bay in Kent, Queen 
Anne's> Talbot and Dorchester counties, where they 
enjoy fishing and duck shooting. 

In later years the Bureau of Immigration has set- 
tied many western farmers in Wicomico, Somerset and 
Worcester counties, where there is good soil, excellent 
transportation facilities and a pleasant climate. 

The Bureau of Immigration has received many of- 
fers from western farmers to exchange land for farms 
in Maryland ; but there is no record that a Marylander 
has been willing to accept such an offer. 

Many big farms need breaking up into smaller hold- 
ings. There are splendid opportunities for investment, 
splendid chances for men of energy and intelligence. 

The emancipation of the slaves left the owners of 
large tracts of land without means of properly culti- 
vating their fields, these people became what is locally 
called "land poor." This accounts for the low prices 
placed upon the land which is of excellent quality and 
needs only proper tilling and manuring to bring it back 
to its former high state of cultivation. Most of the soil 
is a rich loam which can be tilled with a one horse 
plow. Crops can be raised for less labor and expense 
than in other sections. Corn, wheat, oats and other 
grains, together with fruits, vegetables, berries and 
garden trucks grow luxuriantly and mature so early 
as to give the producer the advantages of the high 
prices which prevail before the main crop reaches the 
markets. The climate, soil and shipping facilities are 



A Visitor's Impressions. 87 

so excellent that the growth of small fruits and veg- 
etables has grown to large proportions. Of the fruits, 
the strawberry is the most important crop ; in a favor- 
able year the average net profit of the crop is about 
$150 per acre. Peas, beans, onions, Irish potatoes, 
sweet potatoes, kale, cabbage, etc., are grown with 
profit. 

The following extract from a letter by H. T. Wil- 
liams, of the New York "Independent" gives the im- 
pression made upon a disinterested stranger : 

"We went to the peninsula of Maryland expecting to see 
a country distinguished by poor land. We found some poor 
land, but we found some good land also, which far exceeded 
in richness many of the alluvial valley regions which we have 
been proud to boast of; we found people whose kindness and 
generosity and hospitality put to shame the selfish con- 
servatism of some northern farmers. We found good schools, 
good churches and a strong religious spirit pervading all 
classes of the community. The country is, in general, pre- 
eminently healthy; the climate is mild and regular, free from 
all extremes of heat or cold, and far more agreeable than 
either the latitude of New York or Philadelphia. But by far 
the distinguishing features are the early seasons — possessing 
an advantage of from ten days to two weeks over New Jersey. 
To a gardener or fruit grower, an advantage of this character, 
is worth thousands of dollars." 

Sooner or later Maryland must become the great 
fruit and vegetable garden for Philadelphia, New York 
and Boston, and those who can secure some of the ex- 
cellent farms, now obtainable, will never have occasion 
to regret their choice. 

Persons desirous of obtaining specific and reliable 
information about farms and where those for sale are 
located, about prices and transportation can address 
the Maryland Bureau of Immigration, Baltimore. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. 

Maryland has abundant schools of all kinds, and 
every provision is made that each child in the State, 
male and female, white and colored, shall have every 
needed facility for obtaining an education. No farm- 
house in all the State is too remote from a free school 
for the children to reach it conveniently by walking. 
In the public free school system of the State there 
are 2,377 schoolhouses in the counties, of which 612 
are for colored children, and 108 in the city of Balti- 
more, of which 15 are for colored children. The annual 
expenditure for public free schools in the State is 
about $3,250,000; 200,000 children attend the public 
schools, and they are taught by 5,150 teachers. There 
are normal schools for the training of teachers, and 
polytechnic and manual training schools in most of the 
counties. At most of the county seats there are high 
schools, where pupils can prepare for college, and 
those who do not intend to go to college can get a 
fair education. There are, in addition to these high 
schools, 19 academies in the various counties. 

Not only does the State give a liberal support to 
its public school system, but it extends aid to a num- 
ber of colleges not connected with the public schools, 
for which free scholarships are awarded. 

Maryland was one of the first among the States to 
provide for the education of her citizens. As far back 
as 1696 Gov. Francis Nicholson established a public 



The Public Free Schools. 89 

school at Annapolis. It was known as King William's 
School and is now St. John's College. 

Under the present law the schools in the counties 
are managed by County School Commissioners 
appointed by the Governor. Each board elects an 
executive officer known as the County School Super- 
intendent. The State levies a tax of 16 cents on the 
$100 for school purposes. This tax yields about 
$1,200,000 a year, which is distributed to the counties, 
the city and each county levying a local tax in addi- 
tion. 

The School Commissioners of Baltimore City are 
appointed by the Mayor. The Mayor designates the 
president of the School Board. The term of the Com- 
missioners is six years, and three of the nine retire at 
the end of every two years. 

The Board of School Commissioners appoints the 
City Superintendent of Public Instruction and assist- 
ant superintendents ; also, one or more visitors to each 
school, the visitors to serve without pay. 

The school teachers are selected by the Superin- 
tendent and his assistants, in accordance with the 
merit system and subject to confirmation by the 
School Board. The Commissioners appoint the faculty 
of the City College and the teachers of the Poly- 
technic Institute and the high schools, as well as 
various subordinate officers in the department. 

Church and party ties shall not be regarded by the 
Mayor in making his selections, the intention being 
to keep the public schools entirely out of the field of 
political and religious differences. Ward lines are 
also abolished in making selections. 

A Compulsory Education Act was passed by the 
General Assembly of 1902, which was limited in its 



90 The State of Maryland. 

operations to Baltimore city and Allegany county. 
The act requires children between 8 and 12 years of 
age to attend school. Attendance officers were author- 
ized and appointed to enforce the law, and penalties 
are provided for violations. 

The following is a summary of the provisions of 
the Maryland State School Law, as revised by the 
General Assembly of 1904. This law applies to the 
counties and not to Baltimore City. 

The State Board of Education is composed of eight 
members, consisting of six appointed by the Governor, 
and the Governor and the State Superintendent of 
Education. The terms of the members of the State 
board correspond to those of the County School Com- 
missioners, and minority representation is provided. 

The State Superintendent of Public Education is 
secretary of the State Board of Education. 

The official title of the secretary of the County 
School Board is "secretary, treasurer and county su- 
perintendent." 

Principal teacher is appointed by the board of trus- 
tees and becomes the secretary of the board of district 
trustees. 

All assistant teachers are appointed by the County 
School Boards. 

County School Boards are given authority to con- 
solidate schools when desirable and practicable, and 
to pay charges of transportation. 

The normal school at Frostburg, the normal de- 
partment of Washington College, the Maryland State 
Normal School and the Baltimore Colored Normal 
School are under the supervision of the State Board of 
Education. 



McDonogh School. 91 

The minimum county school tax rate is 15 cents. 

Where the school board fails to provide a school 
year of nine months, and the minimum salary of $300, 
to white teachers whose schools average 15, the comp- 
troller will withhold the March installment of the 
school tax. 

There is no separate fund for colored schools. All 
matters pertaining to colored schools are left with the 
County School Board. 

The State school tax is apportioned on the basis of 
(colored and white) between the ages of 5 and 20 as 
disclosed by the census. 

The pension fund for teachers is $25,000 annually. 

Among the important free schools in Maryland is 
the McDonogh Institute, near Baltimore. The free 
school for boys was founded by John McDonogh, born 
in Baltimore, December 29, 1779, and died in New 
Orleans, October 26, 1850. The requirements for en- 
try are as follows: 

1. They must be poor boys, of good character, of 
respectable associations in life, residents of the city of 
Baltimore. 

2. They must be sound and healthy in mind and 
body. 

3. They must be between 10 and 14 years of age. 

4. They must pass a competitive examination. 
Students get military training, instruction in farm 

and shop work, surveying, shorthand and typewriting, 
in machinery, woodwork, typesetting and other indus- 
tries. 

The property of the foundation consists of 835 acres 
of land in a beautiful and healthy region, 12 miles 
northwest of Baltimore city, with commodious build- 



92 The State of Maryland. 

ings ; an endowment fund of $725,600 from John Me- 
Donogh invested in Baltimore city bonds; bequest of 
Dr. Zenus Barnum of $80,000 to promote mechanical 
instruction and manual training ; bequest of Samuel H. 
Taggart of $175,000. 

LIBRARIES. 

One of the most important of all the various edu- 
cational appliances are public libraries, and with these 
Maryland is singularly well supplied. Baltimore, 
which, as has been said, is one of the chief educational 
centers of the country in the number and importance 
of its libraries, is far ahead of nearly all other Ameri- 
can cities, the aggregate number of books in them ex- 
ceeding one million. The Pratt and other great 
libraries are free. There is a State library at Annap- 
olis which has a most complete collection of law books 
and histories. There are two State Library Commis- 
sions — one to encourage the formation of free libraries 
in the counties and the other to circulate traveling li- 
braries throughout the State. The latter one with the 
cooperation of Dr. Bernard Steiner, librarian of the 
Pratt Library, is doing an excellent work. 

Recently Mr. Andrew Carnegie agreed to give 
$500,000 for twenty buildings for branches of the 
Enoch Pratt Library, the condition being that the Cit} 
of Baltimore shall mantain the libraries at a cost of 
not less than 10 per cent, of the buildings and also that 
the city provide the sites. These conditions were ac- 
cepted by the city and the Legislature passed an en- 
abling act to grant the necessary authority. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE CAPITAL OF MARYLAND. 

It has been said that if General Washington should 
return to life and make one of his customary journeys 
through Virginia, Maryland and the States to the 
north, Annapols is the only town he would recognize 
— the only one which has remained unchanged in the 
century that has elapsed since the death of the first 
President. This ironical remark was more true some 
years ago when it was made, than it is now. It is true 
that Washington, were he to revisit the capital of 
Maryland, would recognize many of its buildings. He 
would recognize the old State House and the dome, 
under which one of the most interesting acts of his 
noble life took place; he would see the old Senate 
Chamber in which Congress sat when he resigned his 
commission almost precisely as he left it ; he would see 
still standing the hotel in which he was entertained; 
Carrollton, the old home of his friend Charles Carroll, 
with its appearance unchanged; he would find many 
of the fine old residences where he visited before and 
after the Revolution ; the Tydings house ; the Treasury ; 
the Randall house, built 1730 by Thomas Bordley; the 
Brice house, corner East and Prince George streets, 
1740 probably; the Iglehart house, Prince George 
street; its opposite neighbor, the Paca house; the 
Claude house, Shipwright street, and the Ridout man- 
sion, Duke of Gloucester street; the Mason house, 



94 The State of Maryland. 

built by Governor Ogle 1742, and St. John's College 
(McDowell Hall) ; the Randall house, Market space, 
and the house of Anthony Stewart, of "Peggy Stewart" 
fame, Hanover street. The City Hotel, Washington's 
hostelry, belongs to an early period; the Chase man- 
sion was built by Governor Lloyd and the Locker- 
man house opposite was built 1770. 

No city in America has so many fine colonial build- 
ings, and the rich flavor of the historic past remains, 
although in the last few years a highly improved, 
modern town has grown up around the ancient land- 
marks. Among the modern improvements are well- 
paved, smooth streets; an excellent drainage system; 
gas, electric lights ; an abundant supply of pure water. 
There is good police protection and fire protection and 
admirable schools. The general Government has ap- 
propriated ten or twelve million dollars for improving 
the Naval Academy and has erected magnificent build- 
ings. One of these buildings — the chapel — cost nearly 
a half million dollars. It is to be the Westminster 
Abbey of the American Navy, and the first body to be 
consigned to its crypt was that of John Paul Jones, 
the father of the American Navy. 

The State of Maryland has spent in the last few years 
nearly one and a half million dollars in public build- 
ings in the capital. A Court of Appeals building of 
superb architecture and appointments was erected at a 
cost of $290,000. Besides a beautiful courtroom and 
the offices of the court it accommodates the State Li- 
brary, the offices of Treasurer, Comptroller and other 
State officials. An addition has been made to the 
State House for the accommodation of the Legislature 
at a cost of $850,000. The old State House stands un- 



Founding of Annapolis. 95 

molested except that it has been thoroughly repaired 
and strengthened, and the Senate Chamber restored to 
its original form. 

Annapolis has been the capital of Maryland since 
1694. In 1648, 14 years after the settlement of St. 
Mary's, Governor Stone invited a colony of Puritans in 
the lower counties of Virginia to come to Maryland to 
enjoy religious freedom and equal laws. They came 
and settled around the Severn. Later on they formed 
Anne Arundel town, the forerunner of Annapolis. 
The present city was surveyed and laid out in 1694 by 
Richard Beard, and in 1696 this map and survey were 
legalized by Act of Assembly. The original plat 
having been destroyed with the State House in the 
fire of 1704, a resurvey on the original lines was 
ordered by the Acts of 1718, ch. 19, James Stoddart 
being employed for this purpose. The Stoddart plat 
is now in the Land Office. 

The State House circle dominates the entire plan. 
That it was not laid out by Puritans is shown by the 
fact that, next to the State House reservation, the 
most important was Church circle for a Church of 
England church. Anne Arundel town, when it was 
made the capital, contained only about 40 houses, and 
probably less than 200 people. That number, of course, 
did not stand in the way of the laying out of a city. 
At the time of the removal Francis Nicholson was 
Governor, and he named the town in honor of Princess 
Anne, afterwards Queen of England. She acknowl- 
edged the compliment by presenting a silver com- 
munion service to St. Anne's Church, pieces of which 
are still preserved. 

In 1708 Annapolis became a chartered city, with a 
regular municipal government. King William School, 



96 The State of Maryland. 

which had been founded in 1696, became the chief 
seat of domestic education. From the opening of the 
century the capital increased steadily in wealth and 
importance, and soon became the social center south 
of Philadelphia, and the inhabitants were distin- 
guished for sociability, courtesy and refinement of 
manners. Races, balls and other festivities attracted 
strangers not only from adjacent counties, but adja- 
cent colonies. The Tuesday Club became famous in 
the colonies for its wit and good cheer, and claimed 
among its members many of the leading Americans 
of the day. The quaint but voluminous records of 
the club gave a charming insight of the social life at 
Annapolis. The provincial State House became better 
known as a ballroom than a hall of legislation. A 
theatre was in full operation as early as 1745, and was 
the first, it is asserted, in the colonies. French hair- 
dressers, tailors and perfumers plied their trades in 
the little city, and excited the admiration and wonder 
of the French and English visitors. The golden age 
of Annapolis lies between 1750 and 1770, when its 
wealth, influence and attractiveness were at the 
highest point. 

The stamp tax, imposed in 1765, met with violent 
opposition in Maryland, as it did everywhere, the 
stamp distributor, one Hood, being compelled to fly 
the province, and the stamps were shipped back to 
England, as no one would use them. 

If the opposition to the stamp tax had been fierce, 
that to the tea tax, first laid in 1767, was still fiercer, 
and associations were formed throughout the 
province to prevent the introduction of tea. A firm 
of Annapolis merchants having, in defiance of the 




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The First Constitution. 97 

public sentiment, imported a consignment of that 
commodity, popular indignation rose so high that a 
town meeting was held, and the owner of the brig 
that had brought it, Mr. Antony Stewart, to avert 
further mischief, publicly burned his vessel, the 
Peggy Stewart } with its obnoxious cargo, in the sight 
of a large concourse of spectators, on October 19, 
1774. The vessel went ashore at Windmill Point, a 
spot now in the Naval Academy grounds. 

Governor Eden, the last proprietary Governor, left 
Maryland June 24, 1776. Before that time the Govern- 
ment had gone into the hands of a convention chosen 
by the people. It appointed delegates to the Conti- 
nental Congress, and governed the State for the first 
year of the war by a Council of Safety, which sat at 
Annapolis, and with committees of correspondence 
in the several counties. This provisional govern- 
ment raised levies and kept the Maryland Line in 
the Continental Army filled. One day, before the 
Continental Congress took that final step, the con- 
vention of Maryland issued a formal Declaration of 
Independence. It then formulated a constitution 
and form of government, embodying the Bill of 
Rights which had been written by George Mason, of 
Virginia, promulgated it and then abdicated its 
authority. This constitution is believed to be the 
first written constitution in the world, except that 
of Virginia, which preceded it by a very short time. 
Thomas Johnson, the first Governor of the State, 
was inaugurated in March, 1777, and the Council of 
Safety dissolved itself. Maryland thus became a 
sovereign and independent State, but she did not enter 
the Confederation until 1781, when she came in as the 
thirteenth and last State. 



98 The State of Maryland. 

Towards the close of the Revolutionary war the 
Continental Congress sat in Annapolis in the Senate 
Chamber, and there, on December 23, 1783, Wash- 
ington resigned his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Army. The next year, in the same 
chamber, Congress ratified and signed the Treaty 
of Peace with Great Britain, and in it, in September, 
1787, a Convention of Delegates from five States, 
which had been proposed by Maryland, met and pro- 
posed a closer union of the States. Out of this meet- 
ing grew the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and 
our form of government. 

The first State House was completed in 1697. This 
building was burned in 1704. The second State 
House, begun in 1704, was built on the site of the 
first, and was used for 68 years, when it was torn 
down to make way for the present edifice. 

In 1769 the General Assembly appropriated £7,500 
sterling for a new State House and appointed the fol- 
lowing building committee : Daniel Dulany, John 
Hall, Charles Carroll (barrister), Thomas Johnson, 
William Paca, Launcelot Jacques and Charles Wallace. 

The architect of the building was Mr. Joseph Clark, 
and the foundation stone was laid on March 28, 1772, 
by Governor Eden. The building was completed in 
1773, and covered with a copper roof. The Maryland 
Gazette of February 28, 1793, informs us that Thomas 
Dance, a plasterer, fell from the interior of the dome 
just as he had finished the centerpiece, and was killed 
on the floor below. This item created the impression 
that the dome was not erected until after the Revolu- 
tion. But in a book written by the chaplain of a 
French regiment, which was quartered for awhile in 



The Old State House. 99 

Annapolis during the Revolution, the writer spoke of 
the architectural beauty of the State House, and 
especially of the dome, proving that the dome was 
built before the Revolution. The priest said that the 
Maryland State House was the finest building of the 
kind in America. 

Many changes have been made in the interior of 
the building in order to secure additional space. In 
1858 the hall of the House of Delegates was much 
enlarged, and the octagonal room at the rear of the 
hallway was rebuilt and enlarged to furnish quarters 
for the State Library. At this time the imposing 
stairway, known as the "Golden Stairs," was erected. 

In 1876 the interior of the old Senate Chamber was 
entirely changed, the chimney and fireplace removed 
and the gallery taken out. In 1886 an unsightly addi- 
tion to the State House was built to enlarge the library 
and furnish committee rooms. It was badly construct- 
ed, badly planned and entirely unsuited for any pur- 
pose. It was torn away in 1902 to make way for the 
splendid addition began that year. 

In 1858 the Comptroller's office was erected in the 
State circle, but, the State offices having been removed 
to the new Court of Appeals building, this ugly old 
building was torn down in 1906. 

Because of the increased size of the Legislature and 
the enlarged business of the State, the old legislative 
chambers and committee rooms and offices were found 
insufficient. In 1902 Hon. Spencer C. Jones, Senator 
from Montgomery county, introduced a bill providing 
for an annex to the old State House which should con- 
tain legislative chambers and the necessary offices for 
the General Assembly. The act created a coi ^mission, 



ioo The State of Maryland. 

which employed Baldwin & Pennington as the archi- 
tects, and erected an annex at the cost of about $800, 
000, double the size of the old building, with which it 
is architecturally in entire harmony. Of this building 
Governor Warfield said in his message to the Legis- 
lature January 3, 1906 : 

"The Legislature of 1902 created a commission 
charged with the duty of 'constructing and erecting an 
addition to the present State House, in which shall be 
located the State Senate Chamber and the House of 
Delegates/ and appropriated $250,000 with which to 
begin the work. At the session of 1904 a further ap- 
propriation of $600,000 was made for the purpose of 
completing the work and for repairs to the old State 
House. 

"The commission has completed its work, and will 
submit to this General Assembly a report showing in 
detail how the money has been expended. 

"It gives me pleasure to inform you that the Annex 
has been constructed within the appropriations made 
for that purpose, and at a very moderate cost when 
compared with the cost of similar capitols erected 
in other States. The building is admirably suited to 
the purpose for which it is to be used. It is a sub- 
stantial, splendid structure, with ample room to ac- 
commodate the Legislature and the various commit- 
tees for many years to come. 

"Not only were these appropriations sufficient to 
erect the new building, but they also provided funds 
to enable the commission to restore the old Senate 
Chamber to the form and appearance it bore at the 
time of that historic event — the resignation by General 
Washington of his commisson as Commander-in-Chief 



The Historic Senate Chamber. 101 

of the Continental Army, and, further, to restore the 
Executive Chamber to its former condition, and to im- 
prove and fit up a private office for the Governor, as 
well as a document and working room. 

"The work of restoring the old Senate Chamber 
was done with the aid of an advisory committee of 
gentlemen connected with historic and patriotic so- 
cities, who were named for membership on the commit- 
tee because of their intimate acquaintance with the 
history of the State and the traditions of the old Cham- 
ber. 

"This committee was appointed by me under au- 
thority of a resoluton adopted by the State Annex 
Building Commission, and has performed its work in 
a most satisfactory manner. 

"In my opinion, the restoration of all the features 
of this beautiful old room is accurate. An interesting 
report of the work of the advisory committee is sub- 
mitted herewith, which will give the reasons for every 
detail of the restoration. 

"Thus has been accomplished a work that has been 
devoutly desired by the people of this State ever since 
the appearance and furnishings of the old Chamber 
were destroyed and the room modernized in 1878. 

"This room, hallowed by so many sacred memories 
and historic associations, will, I am sure, become the 
Mecca of every patriotic person in the State of Mary- 
land, and will, each year, become more priceless in his- 
toric association. It will, in conection with the two 
adjoining rooms, be kept as a place in which will be 
assembled mementoes associated with the War of the 
Revolution and the earlier days of our State. 

"Through the work of the State Annex Building 
Commission, and under the guidance and direction 



102 The State of Maryland. 

of Messrs. Baldwin & Pennington, the architects, 
Maryland has now one of the finest State capitols in 
the Union." 

The State House contains many valuable historic 
paintings and portraits. 

The Constitution requires that the Governor of 
Maryland, during his term of office, shall be a citizen 
of Annapolis, and the State has always provided a 
residence for him, which from the earliest time has 
been known as the "Government House." The Gov- 
ernment House occupied by Governor Eden, the last of 
the colonial Governors, was contained in the land ceded 
by the State in 1866 to the United States for the en- 
largement of the Naval Academy grounds, the ces- 
sion being made especially as an inducement to return 
the naval school from Newport, R. I., where it had 
been carried during the Civil war. This fine mansion, 
an excellent specimen of colonial architecture, erected 
by Edmund Jennings, was occcupied by all the Gov- 
ernors of Maryland from Eden to Thomas Swann, the 
period of about a century. When it came in possession 
of the Naval Academy it was used for a library. Un- 
der the scheme of improvement and reconstruction the 
demolition of nearly all the old buildings on the 
grounds was contemplated. But this one was to have 
been retained and improved for use as the residence of 
the superintendent. When the various additions which 
had been made to it were removed, however, it was 
found that the walls were too weak, and the historic 
building was torn down. Through the co-operation of 
Admiral Brownson, then superintendent, Governor 
Warfield procured a beautifully carved marble mantel- 
piece from the old house, and had it placed over the 



Naval Academy. 103 

fireplace in the Governor's private office in the State 
House. The central building of St. John's College, 
MlcDjowell Hall, was begun by Governor Bladen for 
a residence but never completed. It was given by the 
State to St. John's College in 1784. The present Gov- 
ernment House was erected in 1867, and was first oc- 
cupied by Gov. Oden Bowie. It is surrounded by 
beautiful grounds and is spacious and convenient. 

More imposing even than the buildings of the State 
are those of the United States Naval Academy. In- 
deed, the Academy is the most conspicuous feature of 
the city and attracts more visitors from afar than all 
the others. The naval school was first established by 
George Bancroft in 1846, when he was Secretary of 
the Navy, upon recommendation of Prof. William 
Chauvenel, who was the first instructor in mathematics 
and navigation. The school was established for the 
educaton of officers for the navy without consulting 
Congress, the navy having control of the old Fort 
Severn property. But the Congress soon made recog- 
nition of it by making an appropriation, on the recom- 
mendation of the President, "for repairs and improve- 
ments." The first superintendent was Captain Frank- 
lin Buchanan of Maryland, afterwards an admiral in 
the Confederate Navy and commander of the first iron- 
clad, the Merrimac, in the famous encounter with the 
Monitor in Hampton Roads. Since the school was es- 
tablished over 3,000 cadets and midshipmen have been 
graduated. In 1898, interest in the navy being stimu- 
lated by the Spanish war, Congress made an appro- 
priation of $8,000,000 — since raised to $10,000,000 — to 
reconstruct the Academy buildings. With this vast 
sum many imposing buildings have been erected and 



104 The State of Maryland. 

more are in course of construction. Barracks for ma- 
rines and marine officers' quarters have been estab- 
lished adjacent to the Academy, a naval hospital has 
been built and provision has been made for a proving 
ground on the Severn, opposite the Academy. The 
mild climate of Annapolis, rendering outdoor drills 
and exercises possible for the greater part of the year, 
the magnificent sheet of water spread out for seaman- 
ship and boat drills, proximity to the National Capital, 
and a healthful, beautiful location, make this an ideal 
spot for the national naval school. It was removed to 
Rhode Island during the Civil war, but these natural 
advantages speedily caused its restoration to Annap- 
olis. 

Annapolis is also a delightful place of residence. 
It is within an hour by rail of both Baltimore and 
Washington, and there is communication with these 
cities by electric roads. The resident civilian popula- 
tion, the families of naval officers who reside in and 
around the Academy and of many retired officers of 
both army and navy, form a delightful and highly cul- 
tivated society. There are also fine schools and col- 
leges, and cheap and abundant markets. The banks 
of the Severn, near Annapolis, form beautiful sites for 
country homes. Among the historic features of An- 
napolis, and which is one of the attractions for resi- 
dents, is St. John's College. It is one of the oldest 
schools in the New World. It was founded as King 
William's School, in 1696, and raised to collegiate rank 
in 1784. The design was that this college should be 
to the Western Shore what Washington College, Ches- 
tertown, is to the Eastern. This venerable school has 
graduated a large number of men who have become 



Monuments. 105 

distinguished as patriots, statesmen, lawyers and 
divines. 

Upon the State House hill, to the right of the State 
House, stands a quaint old colonial building of very 
modest proportions. This is the old Treasury build- 
ing. It is in the shape of a Greek cross, and is prob- 
ably the oldest edifice in the State. The venerable 
college poplar is the single living witness of its build- 
ing, over 200 years ago. The rooms are low, and the 
walls of unusual solidity and thickness. 

Immediately in front of the entrance to the State 
House stands the bronze statue of Roger Brooke 
Taney, Chief Justice of the United States from 1836 
to 1864. This is the work of William Henry Rinehart, 
a Maryland sculptor, and was unveiled on March 17, 
1874, the anniversary of Taney's birth. 

On the southeast side of the State House stands the 
statue of Baron de Kalb, also the work of a Maryland 
sculptor, Ephraim Keyser. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE GATE TO THE SOUTH. 

The city of Baltimore, the metropolis of Maryland 
and the largest city in the Southern States, lies in 
39 17" north latitude and 76° 37" west longitude from 
Greenwich. It is at the head of navigation on the 
Patapsco river, 14 miles from the Chesapeake bay, 
204 miles by the bay from the Atlantic ocean and 31 
miles from the capital of the United States. By the 
Federal census of 1900 the city had a population of 
508,957. Notwithstanding the disaster of the great 
fire of February, 1904, by which $70,000,000 of prop- 
erty was destroyed, the population by the beginning 
of 1906 had increased to nearly 550,000, indicating a 
population of 600,000 by the census of 19 10. It is a 
great manufacturing city as well as a great com- 
mercial city. Including the industries in adjacent 
suburbs, which belong to the city but are just beyond 
its limits, the output of its factories is valued at 
$200,000,000 a year. This output of one city is nearly 
as great as the output of the factories of the States 
of Georgia, Florida and Alabama combined. It is 
equal to the combined output of the two great States 
of Virginia and West Virginia; fifty million dollars 
more than the combined output of the factories of 
North and South Carolina, and almost double the 
output of the factories of Texas and twenty millions 
in excess of the products of Maine and Vermont. The 
city of Baltimore has $150,000,000 invested in manu- 



Foreign Steamship Lines. 107 

facturing, and ranks eighth among tKe manufacturing 
cities of the Union. The leading industries of the 
city are the making of cotton duck, refining copper, 
clothing, hats, smoking and chewing tobacco, foundry 
and machine products, tin smithing, sheet-iron work- 
ing, canning and meat packing. In the manufacture 
of wearing apparel Baltimore stands third among the 
cities of the Union. 

The commerce of Baltimore is large and is rapidly 
growing. A great fleet of over 50 steamers and hun- 
dreds of sailing vessels land at her wharves, mainly 
on Light street, the rich products of the tidewater 
portions of Maryland and Virginia. Lines of bay 
steamers ply regularly, and on most of them daily, 
to the Sassafras, the Chester, the Tread Avon, Eastern 
bay and Miles river, the Choptank, the Wicomico, 
the Nanticoke, the Pocomoke, the various creeks and 
rivers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, to the head 
of navigation on the Patuxent, the Potomac, the York, 
the Rappahannock, the Piankatank, to Norfolk and to 
Newport News. The amount of traffic brought by 
these vessels is enormous, a single item being thirty 
or forty thousand hogsheads of Maryland tobacco. 
Engaged in the foreign trade are the following lines 
of steamships, with regular sailing days, namely: 

Johnston Line, Baltimore to Liverpool. 
North German Lloyd, Baltimore to Bremen. 
Puritan Line, Baltimore to Antwerp. 
Blue Cross Line, Baltimore to Havre. 
Neptune Line, Baltimore to Rotterdam. 
Lord Line, Baltimore to Belfast and Cardiff. 
Empire Line, Baltimore to Leith. 
Atlantic Transport Line, Baltimore to London. 



108 The State of Maryland. 

Hamburg-American Line, Baltimore to Hamburg. 

Donaldson Line, Baltimore to Glasgow. 

United Fruit Company Line, Baltimore to Jamaica. 

Red Star Line, Baltimore to Antwerp. 

Scandinavian-American Line, Baltimore to Copen- 
hagen and Christiana. 

United Fruit Company, Baltimore to San Domingo. 

Atlantic Fruit Company, Baltimore to Jamaica. 

Atlantic Fruit Company, Baltimore to Sama, Cuba. 

S. Vicari Company, Baltimore to Sama, Cuba. 

Joseph R. Foard Company Line, Baltimore to Colon 
and Central America. 

Lanassa & Gofle Importing and Steamship Com- 
pany, Baltimore to Jamaica. 

In addition to these, there is a constant arrival of 
tramp steamers, coming for cargoes of grain, steel 
rails, etc., or bringing ores and other cargoes. 

In the coasting trade there is a constant procession 
of barges and colliers carrying coal, which comes 
from the Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania 
mines, to New England and West Indian ports. 
Regular lines of steamers ply as follows: 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Boston, via Nor- 
folk. 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Providence, via 
Norfolk. 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Savannah. 

Baltimore and Carolina Line, to Georgetown, S. C, 
and Charleston, S. C. 

Ericsson Line, to New York, outside route. 

Philadelphia Steamboat Line, via canal, to Phila- 
delphia. 

Besides an enormous coastwise trade in cotton, coal, 
lumber and manufactured articles, the foreign trade of 




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Foreign Commerce. 109 

Baltimore for the year ending June 30, 1907, was 
$142,258,808. Of this sum, $37,774,305 was the value 
of the imports and $104,484,503 was the value of the 
exports. Among the chief exports were the following : 
Nearly 100,000,000 pounds of manufactured and leaf 
tobacco; over $2,000,000 worth of lumber and manu- 
factures of wood; 7,000,000 gallons of mineral oil; 
110,000,000 pounds of oil coke ; 57,241 barrels of rosin ; 
nearly $12,000,000 of meat products; 77,000 tons of 
steel rails; 85,000,000 pounds of cotton; 137,667,734 
pounds of copper ingots ; nearly 600,000 tons of coal ; 
5,026,578 bushels of wheat and 8,600,000 bushels of 
wheat as flour; 19,917,037 bushels of corn and 206,157 
barrels of meal ; $4,000,000 of agricultural machinery, 
and animals worth $4,000,000. 

The principal articles imported were 1,076,000 
pounds of tin; 6,168,133 pounds of clover seed; 37,- 
497,715 pounds of rice flour and broken rice; 18,305,- 
000 pounds of salt; 111,546 tons of manganese; 4,979,- 
304 yards of matting ; 576,747 tons of iron one ; 200,- 
000 tons of pig iron; 24,008,000 pounds of bar iron; 
1,418,000 pounds of lemons; 3,000,000 pounds of 
oranges ; bananas worth $1,817,573 ; 12,723,000 pounds 
of burlaps ; 6,462,000 pounds of coffee ; 47,000,000 
pounds of potash ; 4,000,000 chloride of potash. 

The clearing house transactions in the year 1907 
amounted to $1,472,911,207. The balances in the banks 
at the close of the year were nearly $200,000,000 and 
there were over 200,000 depositors in the savings 
banks with deposits of about $80,000,000. 

The banks of the Patapsco afford an unsurpassed 
location for shipyards and iron-working plants. Al- 
ready at Sparrows Point, in the suburbs of Baltimore, 



no The State of Maryland. 

is located a splendid plant for building steel vessels, 
bridge structural steel and steel rails. Vessels land 
Cuban iron ore at the door of the furnace, and load 
for their return voyage with rails for South America, 
Cuba, Japan, India, Australia and other parts of the 
world. At this works the great dry dock Dewey, which 
was taken to the Philippine Islands, and the dry dock 
at Algiers, La., were built for the United States. The 
fluctuations of the water level in the Patapsco is only 
1 8 inches, and there is bold water on both sides, af- 
fording many miles of water front suitable for ship- 
building or other manufacturing. There is a channel 
from the Baltimore harbor to the ocean which will 
admit vessels drawing 30 feet, and this depth will be 
increased to 35 feet. Money to begin this great work 
has been appropriated by Congress, and the work is far 
advanced. In addition to other advantages of location, 
the climate of Baltimore is peculiarly suitable for man- 
ufacturing, and there is abundant labor. The abund- 
ance and cheapness of food in the Baltimore markets 
and low rents for homes affect the price of labor. 

At the entrance to Baltimore harbor the Patapsco 
river divides into the northwest, southwest and middle 
branches. The northwest branch pierces two and a 
half miles into the very heart of the business portion 
of the city, affording miles of water front, within easy 
reach of the main thoroughfares of the eastern and cen- 
tral sections. The southwest and middle branches en- 
velop the southern and southwestern sections, giving 
a long expanse of water front, in close proximity to 
the lines of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The main 
harbor, or that on the northwest branch, is surrounded 
by the older portions of the city, and contains grain 



The Harbor and New Docks. in 

elevators, steamship piers, railroad terminals, dry dock, 
floating docks and marine railways. This harbor has 
a water front measured on the pier head line of six 
and a half miles, an area of 630 acres, and, while leav- 
ing ample fairways for the movement of vessels, fur- 
nishes 96 acres of anchorage grounds. The whole of 
the lower portion of the harbor, covering the elevators 
and steamship piers, has a depth of over 30 feet at 
mean low water. The harbor along the southwest 
and middle branches has, within the city limits, and 
measured on the pier head line, a water front of five 
and a half miles, and nearly as much more on the op- 
posite banks, in the county. It covers an area of 1,300 
acres. The total water front within the city limits, if 
fully improved, would furnish at least 50 miles of 
wharf room, allowing docks of 150 feet in width. In 
addition to these commercial facilities within the city, 
there are nearly 10 miles of water front on the Pa- 
tapsco, below the city, with railroads in operation near 
it, on both sides of the river. 

After the fire of February, 1904, the city issued a 
loan of $10,000,000 to acquire all the wharf property 
on the north side of the harbor south of Pratt street, 
and for other improvements, including the widening 
of Pratt and Light streets. The dock improvements 
will greatly increase the capacity of the inner harbor. 
Docks are being constructed which will be owned by 
the city and leased to the various steamboat and steam- 
ship companies, and it is estimated that the annual 
rentals will pay the interest on the dock loan and pro- 
vide a sinking fund. Of these docks three have been 
completed and rented at satisfactory rentals and have 
been improved by the lessors. 



H2 The State of Maryland. 

The following gives the areas and measurements of 
the new piers and docks : 

Total area of piers, 1,026,882 square feet, or 23% 
acres of pier space. 

Total length of new water front, 12,523 lineal feet. 

Xumber of piers, six. 

Width of waterway between piers, 150 feet. 

Pier 1 — Total area, 78,445 square feet; total width, 
150 feet; total length, 550 feet. 

Pier 2 — Total area, 126,788 square feet; total width, 
200 feet ; total length, 635 feet. 

Pier 3 — Total area, 152,881 square feet; total width, 
200 feet; total length, 770 feet. 

Pier 4 — Total area, 193,599 square feet; area of 
streets, 68,225 square feet; area of power houses of 
the United Railways and Electric Company, 69,088 
square feet; width of pier, 210 feet; length of pier, 
925 feet. 

Pier 5 — Total area, 271.329 square feet; total width, 
205 feet; total length, 1,200 feet. 

Pier 6 — Total area, 202,840 square feet; average 
width, 150 feet; length, 1,450 feet. 

The piers will be located as follows : 

Pier 1, near the foot of South street. 

Pier 2, foot of Commerce street. 

Pier 3, foot of Gay street. 

Pier 4, foot of Frederick street. 

Pier 5, in the rear of Center Market space. 

Pier 6, along Jones' Falls. 

Pier 4 will be the public pier. The others are to be 
leased out by the Board of Estimates. 

There are, strictly speaking, no port charges at 
Baltimore, except clearance, register and license fees, 



Baltimore's Fine Location. 113 

paid to the Federal government through the Collector 
of the Port. These are the same at all ports of entry 
in the United States. What are ordinarily classed as 
port charges — that is, cost of wharfage, stevedoring, 
tonnage, etc. — fluctuate from time to time, but always 
within reasonable limits. There is, however, no 
charge for wharfage at elevators when grain is taken 
on, and it is generally conceded that all incidental 
expenses of this kind are lower in Baltimore than at 
any other Atlantic port. 

The advantages of inland location have been em- 
phasized and developed for Baltimore by the con- 
struction of direct lines of railroads, placing the city 
in proximity, nearer by many miles than Northern 
and Eastern rivals, to the great productive sections 
of the country. By the shortest rail line, Baltimore 
is thus 96 miles nearer points in the South than 
1 Philadelphia, 180 nearer than New York and 413 
(nearer than Boston. With respect to Cincinnati, its 
'advantages over these cities are, respectively, 74,164 
.and 332 miles, and in regard to other Western points 
I they are even more decided. The railroad facilities 
of Baltimore include six distinct standard-gauge rail- 
roads. The vantage ground upon which they place 
the commercial interests of the city have been vividly 
described, as follows: 

"Baltimore stands with her face to the south, and 
with one hand prepared to gather the products of 
'nearly half of the United States and to send them 
forward to other nations, and in return with the left 
(hand to bestow the peculiar products of the soil of 
'Maryland and her sister States upon those States 
whose climate will not allow the growth of such 



H4 The State of Maryland. 



DC 



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pi- 



luxuries. One iron finger runs almost due north,, 
through the rich farming lands of central Pennsyl- 
vania and southwestern New York, until it touches 
the great lakes, with their ships loaded with grain. 
Another stretches out into manufacturing Pittsburg, 
328 miles distant, the coal, coke, lumber, iron and 
other mineral lands of southwestern Pennsylvania, 
western Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio, and away 
to Chicago, 830 miles, the central point for the grain, 
hay, cattle and other farm products of the great 
Northwest, and the flour of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 
1,296 miles from the seaboard. The third finger 
beckons to the stock-raisers of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, the active men of St. Louis, 931 miles to the 
west, and of Kansas City, 1,213 miles away, and bids 
them to turn towards Baltimore the rapidly increas- 
ing shipments of cattle and cereals from the empire 
of the Southwest. The index finger very appropri- 
ately follows the lines of the Appalachian system of 
mountains, which, ranging from the southwest to jw< 
the northeast, give an outlet to Baltimore by the 
natural rift at Harper's Ferry, whose immense water 
power, gradually being utilized, must bear tribute L 
to this city. Down through the beautiful, fertile and | 
well-watered Shenandoah valley of Virginia the finger | 
points, gathering in the profits from the farm lands jus 
of the valley proper, the wood and minerals of the I 
mountain slopes, the coal and iron of the southwestern 
Virginia and southern West Virginia hills with the 
cattle of their plains, piercing the pine and hardwood 
regions of western North Carolina and South Carolina, 
east Kentucky and Tennessee, and finally touching the L 
flourishing manufacturing and industrial centers of the || { 



m 



The Great Fire. 115 

! 

new South — Birmingham, Anniston, Ensley and other 
towns and cities of Alabama, which have grown with 
the development of its natural resources. The broad 
thumb covers a fertile section embracing Richmond, 
Norfolk, Atlanta, Savannah and Charleston, and some 
of the finest trucking country on the Atlantic slope, 
extending from Norfolk to Florida." 

THE BALTIMORE FIRE, FEBRUARY, 1904. 

1 

The Baltimore fire of February, 1904, may very 

j properly be ranked among the great conflagrations 
of modern times. The fire originated in the dry goods 
warehouse of the John E. Hurst Company, at the 
icorner of German and Sharp streets, between 10 and 
11 o'clock on Sunday morning, February 7. 
I Occurring on Sunday, there were few or no em- 
jployes of the various industrial establishments on duty, 
and the fire is remarkable therefore for the absence of 
any casualties. Not a life was lost. But few homes 
were broken up. A few families residing in the burnt 
district were rendered homeless, but no destitution 
followed the fire. Generous offers of pecuniary assist- 
ance were made from various cities, but they were not 
accepted. The Legislature of Maryland granted a re- 
lief fund of $250,000, but less than $24,000.00 of it was 
ased. About 30,000 wage-earners were temporarily 
dirown out of employment, but in most cases for a 
few days only, and the work of clearing away the 
-uins and rebuilding speedily furnished employment 
ior many thousands of men. 

In the banking and financial centers of the fire-swept 
irea the greatest anxiety prevailed for several days in 
*egard to the safety of the securities and books in the 



n6 The State of Maryland. 

vaults of these institutions. Time-locks prevented the 
opening of the vault doors on Sunday night, and the 
next morning when the bank buildings were in ruins 
it was known that in 10 of the national banks and in 
one other there were values of $53,000,000, including 
loans and discounts, securities, clearing house ex- 
changes and cash. These banks represented about 
$50,000,000 of deposits. In addition to this, the Sav- 
ings Bank of Baltimore, at the corner of Gay and Sec- 
ond streets, had in its vaults in jeopardy about $25,- 
000,000; the Hopkins Savings Bank, $6,000,000, and ! 
others equally large sums. But the vaults stood the 
fire test for which, in part, they were designed. 
The following are some statistics of the fire : 

Area of Burnt District — Extreme length east and 
west, 3,800 feet. 

Extreme length north and south, 2,900 feet. 

Acres burned over, 139.90. 

Blocks or squares destroyed, 73, with 25 isolated 
sections around the water front not classed as squares, j 
Total, 98. 

Number of buildings, 1,343. 

The best general estimates place the total value of 
property of all kinds destroyed at $125,000,000. The 
amount of insurance was $50,000,000, of which $32,- 
000,000 was paid. 

Twenty banks and trusts companies were burned out 
in addition to private banking houses. 

Stores, warehouses, business firms, companies, man- 
ufacturers and individuals burned out aggregated more 
than 2,500. 

The Johns Hopkins Hospital was one of the greatest 
losers of buildings, including valuable warehouses, 



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Restoring the City. 117 

stores and other structures. About 68 buildings be- 
longing to the hospital were burned. 

The value of this property aggregated about $1,300,- 
iooo and the net loss to the great institution about 
$500,000, which was made good by Mr. John D. Rock- 
efeller, of New York. 

I The work of restoration after the fire went on with 
I marvelous vigor. The city appropriated near $10,- 
-000,000 for improving the docks and widening various 
streets. The first work, after the adjustment of in- 
surance, was to remove the debris of the fire. This was 
an enormous work and it was speedily accomplished by 
the means of the splendid system which was adopted. 
Railroad tracks were laid down in the streets and 
freight cars brought up to platforms erected at con- 
venient places onto which the carts loaded with 
broken bricks, mortar and other debris, were driven 
and the loads dumped into the cars and hauled beyond 
the city. Many improvements were made. Tele- 
graph poles were removed from the streets, the best 
<ind of sidewalks required, stricter building regula- 
;ions enforced and many streets were widened. The 
lew buildings erected in the burnt district are uni- 
formly far superior to those which were destroyed, and 
ifter the fire a new city seemed to grow up rapidly 
until now there are few vacant lots. Within ten months 
ifter the fire the debris had been taken away and 377 
mildings, occupying lots upon which 505 buildings 
lad stood before the fire, were completed or nearly 
-ompleted. One of the finest improvements which fol- 
owed the fire, next to the new docks, was the widen- 
tig of Light and Pratt streets along the water front, 
riving ample space for handling the great bay trade 
vhich is landed upon those wharves. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE COUNTIES. 

ALLEGANY COUNTY. 

Allegany county, lying between Garrett and Wash- 
ington counties, with the Potomac river separating it 
from West Virginia on the south, and Pennsylvania 
bounding it on the north, was first settled about 1760. 
Skipton, now called Oldtown, probably was the first 
settlement. It is next to the westernmost county of 
the State. It was formed from Washington county 
by Act of Assembly in 1789. The county has an area 
of 520 square miles, with numerous mountain streams 
running through it. The population of Allegany in 
1900 was 53,694, and the tax rate in 1908 was $1.03 on 
the hundred. Cumberland is the county seat. Frost- 
burg, Lonaconing, Westernport and Midland are in- 
corporated towns. 

The county is mountainous, with a stretch of broad 
bottom land from Cumberland to Keyser, W. Va., 
along the Potomac river, about twenty-five miles in I 
length. There are also fertile bottom lands along ' 
Evitts, Flintstone, Town and Fifteen Mile creeks, in 
the northeastern sections of the country. There are 
many small farms in the short valleys and on the 
plateaus, and three mountain streams and many rivu- 
iets furnish water in abundance. The Potomac river 
is the southern boundary for seventy-five miles, and 
from Cumberland eastward runs the Chesapeake and 
Ohio canal. 

Allegany contains largely the mineral wealth of 
Maryland. There is the great deposit of bituminous 1 



Allegany County. J 19 

coal, fire clay, cement rock, iron ore, sandstone, lime- 
stone, etc., while the land which is devoted to agri- 
culture readily yields corn, wheat, rye, buckwheat, 
oats and grasses. There are 881 farms in the county, 
with an acreage of 160,348. 

Coal mining is the greatest industry in Allegany 
county, but on Dan's mountain are fossil ore and 
hematite, and also traces of silver are found in the 
eastern part of the county. The sandstone in this 
region is suitable for the manufacture of glass, which 
article was manufactured here as early as 181 6. In 
addition to these minerals, there are also excellent 
qualities of fire clay, iron ore and shale for building 
bricks to be found. 

Six railroads cross the county, namely: the Balti- 
more & Ohio main line, the Pennsylvania Railroad 
in Maryland, Cumberland & Pennsylvania, the 
George's Creek & Cumberland, West Virginia Central 
& Pittsburg, the latter now a portion of the Western 
Maryland system which is controlled by the Wabash; 
the Western Maryland which extends from Cumber- 
land to the Baltimore harbor. 

An electric railway overhead trolley extends from 
Cumberland to Westernport, traversing George's 
Creek Valley. The C. & O. canal traverses the county 
50 miles from Cumberland eastward. 

In 1905 the United States Government took a census 
of manufactures of all establishments producing up- 
wards of $500 worth of products each year, with the 
following results for this county: 

Number of establishments, 125. 
Total capital invested, $9,611,532. 
Cost of materials used, $4,394,921. 
Value of product, $7,442,192. 



120 The State of Maryland. 

In the county there are 112 white public schools. 

Cumberland is the second largest city in the State, 
being a most thriving industrial center, with a con- 
stantly increasing jobbing trade. Its population in 
1900 was 17,128. 

Glass, fire clay brick, steel rails and tin plate, build- 
ing brick, silk, furniture and leather are the principal 
products and manufactures in the county. Inci- 
dentally in the clay measures of the region there are 
eight veins of pure fire clay, and works for developing 
this clay are in operation at Frostburg, Mt. Savage 
and Ellerslie. The lower, or smaller veins of coal are 
also being extensively developed. 

An extensive silk mill has been erected at Mt. 
Savage, the repair shops of the Cumberland & Penn- 
sylvania are located here, also the Union Mining Com- 
pany's Fire Clay Brick Works and the Mt. Savage 
Enameled Brick Works. 

The principal industries of the county are flour 
mills, steel cars and machinery, stone, brick and 
building material, lumber and wood working, railroad 
repair shops, breweries, distilleries and ice factories, 
tin plate and steel mills, steel rails, cement, tanneries, 
furniture, carpet weaving, carriages and wagons, 
canal boats building, foundries and machine shops, 
lamps and reflectors, mattresses and beds, paper and 
wood pulp, pottery, terra cotta and fire clay products, 
dyeing and tobacco manufactures. 

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 

Anne Arundel County, named for Lady Anne 
Arundel, whom Cecil Calvert married, was erected in 
1650, and has an area of about 360 square miles, one- 
sixth of which is water surface. The county was first 




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Anne Arundel County. 121 

settled in 1649, two miles from the present site of 
Annapolis, by a band of Puritans from Virginia. 

The county contains the State Capital, Annapolis, 
in which is located St. John's College, and the United 
States Naval Academy. 

The county fronts eastward on the Chesapeake bay, 
and within its territory are five rivers, the Severn, 
one of the most beautiful sheets of water of its size 
in the country, the Magothy, South, Rhode and West 
rivers. On the north and northeast is the Patapsco, 
and Howard county lies on the northwest; the Pa- 
tuxent river separates the county from Prince George's 
on the west. Calvert county is on the south. The 
surface of the county is rolling, and in parts of it level. 
It is well watered and wooded. 

There are 113 white and 39 colored schools in the 
county. 

Annapolis, the State Capital, is the only incor- 
porated town in the county, but there are others grow- 
ing in size and importance, such as Brooklyn, South 
Baltimore, Galloways, Friendship, Eastport, German- 
town and Camp Parole. 

Annapolis was made the capital in 1694. In 1696, 
King William's school was founded in the town, one 
of the first in the State. In the State House at Annap- 
olis some of the most important events of Revolu- 
tionary days took place. 

The United States Naval Academy, occupying the 
Government Reservation adjoining the city, is a place 
of great interest to visitors all over the country. 

The population of Annapolis is 8,525. It was named 
for Queen Anne. 

The new Court of Appeals building, the new annex 
to the State House, Postoffice and Naval Academy 



122 The State of Maryland. 

buildings, recently erected, have greatly added to the 
beauty and progressive spirit of the town. 

It is estimated that there are 4,500 farms in Anne 
Arundel county, and the population of the county is 
a little over 40,000. 

Tobacco, corn, wheat, fruit and vegetables are the 
natural products of the farm in this county. The pro- 
duction of strawberries being no less than 8,000,000 
quarts, more than in almost any other county in the 
United States. The soil is sandy loam, easy to culti- 
vate, easy to enrich and admirably adapted to the 
growth of peaches and all kinds of fruit and vegeta- 
bles. Some of the earliest and finest berries and fruits 
find their way to the markets from here. The canning 
and packing of fruits and vegetables in connection 
with this industry is large and growing. 

Considerable numbers of oysters and fish are taken 
from the waters of Anne Arundel, and for the year 
ending May, 1904, it is reported that 43,500 bushels 
of oysters were packed or shipped. It is estimated 
that 150,000 bushels more were caught in Anne Arun- 
del waters and sold in Baltimore city. 

About 2,000 persons are employed in taking and 
canning or packing of oysters and fish, and find a good 
living in this industry. There is a large area of bay 
and river bottoms which may be leased from the State 
for oyster culture. 

In addition to the Tolchester Steamboat Company, 
the Annapolis, West and South River lines of boats, 
the county is reached by the Annapolis, Washington 
& Baltimore Electric Railroad, from Annapolis to 
Washington and Baltimore ; and the Annapolis & Balti- 
more Short Line, electric road from Annapolis to Balti- 



Baltimore County. 123 

more, thus offering ample facilities for reaching the 
market with the products and manufactures of the 
county. 

While the manufactures of Anne Arundel are not 
numerous, and are comprised in the following list, yet 
some of the largest manufacturing concerns of the 
State are located in South Baltimore, Anne Arundel 
county, which is a manufacturing center. 

The census of manufactures for 1905, made by the 
United States Census Bureau, shows: 

Number of establishments, 44. 
Total capital invested, $2,085,367. 
Cost of materials used, $1,607,607. 
Value of product $2,391,875. 

BALTIMORE COUNTY. 

Baltimore county is the wealthiest and most popu- 
lous in Maryland. Its area is 622 square miles, and 
its population in 1900 was 90,755. Its industries are 
as diversified as are its scenery and soil. As an agri- 
cultural county it ranks among the first in the State, 
and in its territory there are many large and flourish- 
ing factories. It surrounds the city of Baltimore, and 
on all sides the city has extended beyond its boundaries 
into the county. To the east of the city there is a 
large gardening and trucking region in the low lying 
lands along the tidewater. To the south and south- 
east there are the great industries of Canton and Spar- 
rows Point, north and west is a beautiful residential 
country, improved by flourishing villages and beauti- 
ful suburban homes. The product of the farms, gar- 
dens and dairies of Baltimore county is over $6,ooa- 



124 The State of Maryland. 

ooo a year. Farm land sells all the way from $10 to 
$150 per acre and upward. Back from the water 
front the county is elevated, well wooded and watered, 
and the landscape superb. The farms are improved 
with good buildings and fencing. The soils are largely 
heavy red and yellow loams arid clay, and very fertile 
and well adapted to all the cereals and grass. The 
proximity to Baltimore and its markets, and the easy 
access by rail or water makes property in Baltimore 
county exceedingly valuable. The tax rate is always 
low, being 75 cents in 1908. 

Towson is the seat of government and is the termi- 
nus of the electric car line running from Baltimore 
city, from which it is only seven miles. It has a pop- 
ulation of about 2,700. 

Among the principal places of interest in the county 
are the suburban residential sections of Catonsville, 
Lutherville, Glyndon, Reisterstown, Mt. Washington, 
and Roland Park, while the principal manufacturing 
points are Highlandtown, Sparrows Point, Cockeys- 
ville, Warren, etc 

There are many varieties of soils in Baltimore coun- 
ty, from the hard granite soil to the rich loam of 
the valleys, adaptable to the production of all kinds of 
grain, fruits and vegetables. The surface of the coun- 
ty is elevated and rolling, watered by a large number 
of rivers and streams, principal among which are the 
Patapsco, Gunpowder and Gwynn's Falls, in many 
places offering fine water power for manufacturing 
purposes. Those sections adjacent to the water con- 
tain many productive truck farms. In recent years, 
a number of stock farms, raising fine cattle and horses, 
have been established. 



Baltimore County. 125 

Much attention has been paid to dairy farming, and 
according to the census of 1900, upwards of $1,200,000 
worth of dairy foods were produced by 3,641 farms. 
About 25,000 gallons of milk are shipped daily from 
the county into the city, over the Northern Central, 
Western Maryland, Baltimore & Ohio, and Maryland 
& Pennsylvania railroad. 

The total number of farms in Baltimore county, ac- 
cording to the latest reports, is 4,49 6 > of which 4>4 2 ^ 
have buildings on them. The total acreage of the 
farms is 340,206, of which 244,806 are improved. The 
value of the land improvements, except buildings, is 
$23,190,670. The value of the buildings is $9,295,710 ; 
implements, $1,235,380; live stock, $2,259,295. 

Baltimore county is rich in minerals. A fine deposit 
of green marble is being developed at White Hall, and 
limestone is found in large quantities in many sec- 
tions of the county, as well as excellent clay. The 
famous Woodstock granite, Beaver Dam marble and 
crystalline marbles found elsewhere in the county have 
brought both reputation and wealth for many years. 

The Congressional Library, the Washington Post- 
office, the Washington Monuments in Baltimore and 
Washington, and many other notable buildings 
throughout the country have been built with this 
granite and marble, the companies working these quar- 
ries being capitalized at upwards of $200,000, employ- 
ing 250 hands and paying out an annual wage of about 
$125,000. 

The transportation facilities of the county are excel- 
lent, it being traversed by the Baltimore & Ohio, Phil- 
adelphia, Baltimore & Washington, Northern Central, 
Western Maryland, and Maryland & Pennsylvania 



126 The State of Maryland. 

railroads, while all of the suburban towns are in close 
connection with Baltimore city by a net work of elec- 
tric railways, which have given a tremendous impetus 
to suburban development. 

There are many educational institutions in the coun- 
ty, such as the Hannah More Academy for Girls at 
Reisterstown, MeDonogh School for orphan boys, 
Notre Dame of Maryland, Mt. St. Agnes at Mt. Wash- 
ington, and a number of private schools scattered 
throughout the county. There are 149 school houses 
owned by the county and 41 are rented for 190 white 
and 34 colored schools. The disbursements for school 
purposes are about $325,000 a year. 

There are many fishing shores and pleasure resorts 
along the shores of the Chesapeake bay and the nu- 
merous rivers traversing the county, where fish, ducks 
and birds are found in great quantities. The Gun- 
powder river and Patapsco river and Gwynn's and 
Jones' Falls furnish excellent water power sites for 
cotton and woolen factories, paper and flour mills, 
furnaces and foundries. 

The recent census of manufactures gives the county 
credit for the following manufacturing establishments,, 
producing upwards of $500 per annum. 

Number of establishments, 139. 

Total capital invested, $19,680,120. 

Cost of materials used, $44,504,463. 

Value of products, $52,705,032. 



Carroll County. 127 



CARROLL COUNTY. 



Carroll has a population of 33,860, mostly of Ger- 
man, Scotch-Irish and English descent. 

The area of Carroll is 426 square miles, and the 
number of farms is 3,352. It is located in Middle 
Northern Maryland, adjoining Pennsylvania on the 
north, with Baltimore county on the east, Frederick 
on the west and Howard on the south. It is a fine 
agricultural and grazing county, the principal farm 
crops being wheat, corn, rye, potatoes and hay. Fruits 
of all kinds do well, and dairy farming and cattle 
fattening are important industries. Much pork is also 
raised. Carroll is adapted to all sorts of crops, and the 
numerous towns furnish ready markets for butter, 
eggs, vegetables and fruits. 

The county lies high and is healthy. The land is 
rolling and is well watered by numerous streams, 
which also furnish excellent water power for mills 
and manufactories. Good land ranges in value from 
$25 to $100 per acre and ordinary from $10 to $20. 
Farm labor is from $10 to $15 per month, with board. 

There is a variety of soils. In some districts the 
red lands are found; in others, limestone, slate and 
flint. The upper part of the county is more hilly than 
the lower and is more highly improved. The lower 
part has much highly improved land also, and all of it 
susceptible of high cultivation. 

Iron ore, marble, soapstone, brown stone, blue and 
gray limestone are found in the county and there is 
much fine timber of all varieties, principally oak, 
hickory, chestnut and locust. 

Westminster, the county seat, had in 1900 a popula- 
tion of 3,496. The other incorporated towns are 



128 The State of Maryland. 

Taneytown, population, 665 ; Union Bridge, 663 ; New 
Windsor, 430; Manchester, 609; Hampstead, 480; 
Mt. Airy, 532. The unincorporated villages, ranging 
in population from 75 to 300, are Sykesville, Union- 
town, Union Mills, Silver Run, Frizzellburg, Patapsco, 
Gamber, Finksburg, Harney, Melrose, Warfieldsburg 
and Greenmount. 

The railroad facilities of Carroll are good. The 
Western Maryland Railroad crosses the center of the 
county from east to west ; the Baltimore & Ohio crosses 
the extreme lower part of the county ; the Baltimore & 
Hanover branch of the Western Maryland runs along 
the eastern border, and the Frederick branch of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad runs along the western border, 
while the Bachman Valley Railroad extends into 
Carroll about five miles to the Chestnut Hill iron ore 
mines, which furnishes the most of its traffic. Sur- 
veys have been made for the Washington, Westmin- 
ster & Gettysburg Railroad, from Washington, via 
Westminster, to Gettysburg, and it will cross the 
center of the county, from north to south. 

Churches are numerous. All the leading denomi- 
nations are represented — Episcopal, Roman Catholic, 
Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist Protestant, Methodist 
Episcopal, Presbyterian, German Baptists, United 
Brethren and Church of God. 

Carroll county has fine educational facilities, rang- 
ing from the primary school of the strictly rural 
district to Western Maryland College, where the 
county has 26 pupils in addition to the two State 
pupils. The Westminster High School is at the head 
of the public school system. In addition, there is a 
manual training school in Westminster, and there 



Carroll County. 129 

are graded schools at Manchester, Hampstead and 
Union Bridge; at New Windsor is New Windsor 
College, the successor of Calvert College; Maryland 
Collegiate Institute, at Union Bridge ; the Westminster 
Theological Seminary at Westminster, and 180 public 
schools. 

There are three national banks, a savings bank 
and a trust company bank in Westminster, a national 
bank in New Windsor, and two State banks in Taney- 
town, one each in Uniontown, Union Bridge, Man- 
chester, Hampstead, Union Mills, and Sykesville, 
besides a private bank in Westminster and one in 
Mount Airy. The combined capital of the banks is 
$583,000; surplus and undivided profits, about $400,- 
000 ; deposits, about $3,000,000. 

There are many manufactures in Carroll, and those 
producing upward of $500 worth of product per 
annum are reported as follows in the census of 1905 : 

Number of establishments, 123. 
Capital invested, $1,539,653. 
Cost of materials used, $1,613,707. 
Value of product, $2,322,869. 

The capital invested in canning plants is probably 
$225,000, and the output is about $257,000. The 
canning season is short, and about 1,000 persons are 
employed in the busy season. About $145,000 are paid 
in salaries and wages. 

The leading industries are a woolen mill, flouring 
mills, tanneries, railroad shops, butter and ice cream 
factories, fertilizer factories, harness and shirt factor- 
ies, lime kilns, quarries and a great variety of small 
industries. 



130 The State of Maryland. 

CECIL COUNTY. 

The boundaries of Cecil county are Pennsylvania 
(Mason & Dixon Line) on the north, Delaware on the 
east, the Susquehanna on the west and the Sassafras 
river, separating it from Kent on the south. The area 
is 375 square miles. The population in 1900 was 24,- 
662. Its tax rate in 1908 was $1.05. 

Cecil is among the smaller counties in the point of 
area, and has a large water surface, the Elk, North 
East, Bohemia and their tributaries, with other smaller 
streams, traversing the county. The surface is rolling, 
becoming quite hilly toward the north and east. There 
is abundant water power on the numerous streams, 
much of which is utilized for mills. 

The schools are exceptionally abundant and fine, and 
every facility for education is freely offered. In ad- 
dition to the 99 white and 16 colored common schools 
in Cecil there is West Nottingham Academy, near 
Colora, which was opened in 1741. The Jacob Tome 
Institute, at Port Deposit, is one of the best and most 
richly endowed secondary schools in the country. The 
county has established high schools at Elkton, North 
East, Chesapeake City and Cecilton. The Cecil County 
High School at Elkton is an elegant brick structure 
standing on spacious grounds, and there is a new high 
school building on a fine and roomy site at North East. 
The Elkton High School has a department of manual 
training. Elkton is the county seat. 

Cecil has in general a good soil, fitted for farming, 
trucking and fruit growing. There is a fair supply 
of timber, fine water power, navigable rivers and ex- 
tensive shad and herring fisheries. 



Cecil County. 131 

The Philadelphia, Washington & Baltimore, the 
Baltimore & Philadelphia, the Baltimore & Ohio, the 
Philadelphia & Baltimore Central, and the Columbia & 
Port Deposit railroads traverse the county, giving it 
ample railroad facilities; while the Susquehanna, Elk, 
Bohemia, Sassafras and North East rivers and the 
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal afford water transpor- 
tation. 

In 1900 the county contained 1,633 farms, with a 
reported acreage of 200,629 acres. The soil varies 
from yellow clay to disintegrated rock, and is generally 
fertile. Much phosphate, lime and manure is used. 
The main products are corn, wheat, hay, tomatoes, 
potatoes and buckwheat. Cecil county timothy is 
famed throughout the country, is graded highest and 
is largely grown in the upper districts. The shipments 
of dairy and creamery products to nearby cities reach 
upwards of $275,000 per annum. Farm lands sell from 
$10 to $60 per acre. 

The Port Deposit quarries yield granite, unsurpassed 
for building purposes. Among the leading industries 
of the county are those quarries, pulp and paper mills, 
strawboard, iron works, stoves, ship yards, flour mills, 
saw mills, creameries and canneries. 

The census of manufactures gives the following 
figures for 1905 : 

Number of establishments, 71. 

Capital invested, $2,626,331. 

Cost of materials used, $1,953,700. 

Valu*. of products, $2,753,578. 

There are two banks at Elkton, two at Port Deposit, 
the National Bank of Rising Sun, the National Bank 
of North East, and the National Bank of Chesapeake 
City. 



132 The State of Maryland. 

CALVERT COUNTY. 

Calvert county is one of the oldest in the State. 
There has been little immigration into it, and many 
of the names of the families are the same as those 
who settled here over 200 years ago. The county was 
first settled in 1654 and contains an area of 222 square 
miles. It is the smallest county in the State. Its eastern 
line is washed by the Chesapeake bay, and its southern 
and western sides by the Patuxent river. 

The county seat is Prince Frederick. Chesapeake 
Beach and Solomon's are incorporated towns. Other 
towns are Barstow, Broome's Island, Dunkirk and 
Lower Marlboro. 

There are 47 white and 18 colored schools in the 
county. The county tax rate for 1908 was $1.00. 

The soil is productive and divided between sandy 
and clay loam, and, with a mild climate, is responsive 
to cultivation. 

Tobacco and cereals are the chief crops. Fruits and 
vegetables, which are grown quite plentifully, mature 
early. Timber is plentiful, and silica is found in exten- 
sive deposits. 

Tobacco has for two hundred years been the prin- 
cipal product of Calvert county. Corn, wheat and fruits 
are also raised in liberal quantities. In late years, live 
stock and poultry raising have become a part of the 
farmer's cccupation. The number of farms in the 
county reaches about 800. Land sells for $5 to $35 per 
acre. 

The Chesapeake Beach Railroad, which runs to 
Washington, crosses the northern part of the county. 
Lines of steamboats touch along the shores of the 
Patuxent river and on the bayside. No farm is distant 



• Charles County. 133 

from a steamboat landing. Drum Point, at the mouth 
of the Patuxent, is one of the finest harbors in the 
United States. 

In the Patuxent river and along the bay shore 
Calvert has splendid oyster grounds which, it is 
expected, will be made productive by the oyster plant- 
ing law of 1906. It is believed that the oyster industry 
to be established under this law will make Calvert 
a rich county, and all of its real estate far more 
valuable than at present. What is mostly needed Is 
an influx of white laborers and settlers, who will 
utilize the natural advantages of the county and 
develop its industries. 

The census of manufactures for 1905 shows an 
annual product of only $37,000. The chief industry 
is ship building at Solomon's Island. The soil of 
Calvert is peculiarly adapted to the production of 
melons, vegetables and fruit. It is believed that a 
thriving industry in the cultivation of these things 
could be started. 

CHARLES COUNTY. 

Charles county forms the southwestern portion of 
the western shore of the State, and is bounded on the 
west and partly on the south by the Potomac river, 
on the east, in part, by the Wicomico and the Patuxent 
rivers. Its area is 460 square miles, and it has most 
important resources in oysters, fish and water fowl. 

It is traversed by the Wicomico river, Nanjemoy, 
Port Tobacco and Mattawoman creeks. 

The population of Charles county is 18,316, accord- 
ing to the last census, and the total value of lands is 
estimated at $2,775,240, and the improvements at 
$1,216,610. Land sells at from $3 to $25 per acre. 



134 The State of Maryland. • 

The only incorporated town in Charles county is 
La Plata, the county seat. 

The Government Naval Proving Ground and 
Powder Factory, at Indian Head, furnish employment 
for about 350 laborers and mechanics and twenty 
clerks, and necessitates an annual expenditure by the 
Government in this county of upwards of $140,000. 

There are JJ white and 30 colored schools in the 
county. 

The soil is loam, highly productive under cultiva- 
tion, the land being mostly favorable to farming, and 
generally level in the center of the county, while on 
either side there are small hills and valleys. In some 
sections of the county marl is found. 

There are 1,900 farms, with an acreage of 263,255 
acres in the county, and the important agricultural 
productions are tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye and 
fruits. 

The scarcity of farm labor, the sparse settlement, 
and the susceptibility of the land to intensive culti- 
vation make Charles a desirable county for immi- 
grants to settle in. 

In addition to water transportation facilities the 
middle section of the county is traversed by the Pope's 
Creek branch of the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Wash- 
ington Railroad, while the eastern section is traversed 
by a short line railroad under the management of the 
Washington and Point Lookout Company. 

The oyster and fish industries of Charles county 
furnish occupation for about one-tenth of the laboring 
people. Large quantities of fish and oysters are 
annually shipped from the waters of the Potomac, 



Caroline County. 135 

Wicomico and Patuxent rivers, there being nearly 200 
vessels and boats engaged in this industry, with 
upwards of 450 people employed therein. 

CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Caroline county is bounded on the east by Delaware, 
the north and west by Talbot and Queen Anne's 
counties, and by Dorchester on the south. Its area is 
320 square miles, and it has a population of about 
17,000. Several navigable streams flow through it, 
including the Choptank, the Nanticoke and the 
Tuckahoe. The surface of the land is level, the cli- 
mate mild, healthful and equable. The soil is sandy 
or light clay loam, easy to improve and easy to culti- 
vate. The price of farming lands ranges from $7 to 
$80 per acre. There are 1,863 farms, and the property 
of the county is assessed for taxation at a little more 
than five million dollars. The principal crops are 
wheat, corn, tomatoes, peaches, berries and various 
fruits. Over 7,000 acres were in tomatoes in 1905. 
The largest manufacturing industry is the basket and 
fruit package factory at Ridgely. 

The census of manufactures for 1905, excluding the 
smaller establishments producing less than $500 worth 
per annum, shows : 

Number of establishments, 129. 

Capital invested, $851,733. 

Cost of materials used, $1,038,485. 

Value of product, $1,545,307. 

There are in the county about 50 canneries, the an- 
nual output of which is valued at nearly $900,000. 

Schools and churches are of easy access to every 
farm. There are 74 schools for white and 20 for col- 



136 The State of Maryland. 

ored children, including a high school, manual training 
school and several private schools. 

There are six banks in the county. 

The county seat is Denton, on the Choptank river. 
It has a population of about 1,000. 

Steamboats ply between Denton and Baltimore, and 
it lies upon the Maryland, Delaware & Virginia Rail- 
road, which gives access to Baltimore in about three 
hours, via steamer from Love Point. 

Transportation facilities are ample and the markets of 
Baltimore, Washington, Wilmington and Philadelphia 
are of cheap and easy access. No less than three rail- 
roads cross the county, namely, the Delaware & Ches- 
apeake, a branch of the Pennsylvania system running 
from Seaford, Delaware, to Oxford, the Maryland, 
Virginia and Delaware road running from Love Point 
on the Chesapeake to Rehoboth on the Atlantic, and 
the Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic. 

The principal towns in Caroline are Denton, Greens- 
borough, Marydel, Goldsborough, Ridgely, Hillsbor- 
ough, Burrsville, Preston, Federalsburg, Choptank, 
Bethlehem. 

DORCHESTER COUNTY. 

Dorchester county, on the Eastern Shore, is the 
fourth county in size in the State, having an area of 
618 square miles. Its population is 30,800. There are 
133 white public schools and 41 colored schools. 

The surface of the county is slightly undulating, 
with but little elevation, the highest point in the county 
being but thirty feet above the sea level. That part 
bordering on the Chesapeake bay and the inland rivers 
and creeks is very low and much of it is marshy. 






Dorchester County. 137 



Small rivers and creeks penetrate far into the interior 
of the county. Agriculture and oystering are the prin- 
cipal business of the people. There are many square 
miles of river and bay bottoms covered with oysters or 
suitable for oyster culture. 

The soil is heavy in some portions and light in oth- 
ers, the county being well adapted to the raising of 
small fruits, berries, tomatoes, etc. 

The number of farms in the county is 2,074, the 
principal products of which are cereals, hay, vegetables, 
fruits and melons. The estimated value of these prod- 
ucts amounted during the year of 1905 to about 
$1,950,000. The number of hands employed on the 
farms is 5,250, classing the tenants as employes. Farm 
lands sell from $5 to $30 per acre. 

The incorporated towns in this county are Cam- 
bridge, East New Market, Hurlock and Secretary. 

The transportation facilities through Dorchester 
county for reaching the markets of the East, as well 
as Baltimore, are excellent and include the Cambridge 
& Seaford branch of the P., B. & W. Railroad, B., C. & 
A. Railway, Eastern Shore Transportation Company, 
and other packet vessels, with ample freight and pas- 
senger facilities. 

The United States Census gives the manufactures 
of Dorchester in 1905 as follows, not including the 
smaller establishments and repair shops: 

Number of establishments, 89. 
Capital invested, $905,370. 
Cost of materials used, $879,252. 
Value of products, $1,372,371. 

Oyster taking, marketing and shipping enters 
largely into the daily life of the people in this county, 



138 The State of Maryland. 

and makes one of its most important industries. The 
number of persons engaged in catching, marketing, 
shucking and planting of oysters is 4,910, including 
805 men engaged in shucking. 

The total oyster pack for the season of 1906 was 
about 415,000 bushels, the value of which was about 
60 cents per bushel, or $250,000. 

A conservative estimate of the number of barrels 
of different kinds of fish shipped annually from this 
county puts it at 1,500 barrels, at a value of $12 per 
barrel, which makes a total of $18,000. 

The business of catching, shipping and packing of 
crabs has been revived in Dorchester, and at least 
1,500 men and children find employment during the 
season. Each individual crabber ships his own 
"catch," as a rule, although there are scores of buyers 
who cater to local markets. 

The number of cases of tomatoes, each containing 
two dozen cans, packed in this county during the 
season of 1905 was 125,000. 

FREDERICK COUNTY. 

Frederick is next to the largest of the counties 
of Maryland. In population and wealth it ranks next 
to Baltimore county. In the fertility and productive- 
ness of its lands it ranks among the first in the Union, 
and especially in the production of wheat. The area 
of this great county is 633 square miles and its popu- 
lation in 1900 was 51,920. The great body of the 
people are of German, English and Scotch-Irish 
descent, the progeny mostly of the early settlers. The 
land is mostly of fine limestone quality, and the greater 
part of the county is a valley of rolling lands lying 
between the Linganore hills and the Catoctin moun- 



Frederick County. 139 

tain. This splendid valley is drained by the Monocacy 
river, and is one of the best farmed and most highly 
improved and productive areas of the Union. The 
great crops are wheat and corn. Between the Catoctin 
and South mountain lies the valley of Middletown, 
famous for its beauty of landscape, as well as for its 
fertility and splendid improvements. 

Churches of all denominations are abundant and 
every facility for education is provided. There are 
185 white and 28 colored public schools. In Frederick 
city there is the County High School, the Woman's 
College, several Catholic schools, the State School 
for the Deaf and Dumb, a magnificent institution; 
County Asylum and two hospitals. The population 
of Frederick City is about 10,000. It is a wealthy city, 
containing five national banks, having on deposit 
about $4,000,000. The county is well provided with 
transportation facilities. Across the entire county, 
in the northern part, runs the Western Maryland 
Railroad, leading eastward to Baltimore and west- 
ward to Cumberland and into Pennslyvania. From 
the main line of the Western Maryland extends a 
branch giving access to the thriving town of Emmits- 
burg, the seat of Mount St. Mary's College and of a 
Catholic school for girls. Extending across the 
county, in the southern portion, is the main line of 
the Baltimore and Ohio, from which a branch three 
miles long leads into Frederick city. The Metropoli- 
tan branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, leading direct 
from Washington, enters the southwestern corner 
of the county and brings Frederick city within easy 
access of that town. The Pennsylvania road has a 
branch leading from York to Frederick city, giving 



140 The State of Maryland. 

the latter place access to its great system. For about 
15 miles the Chesapeake and Ohio canal lies in 
Frederick county. Westward from Frederick city an 
electric road crosses Middletown valley and two 
mountains, and connects with Hagerstown and its 
system of trolley lines. A branch of this road leads 
from Braddocks Heights, a fine summer resort, to 
Jefferson. Centering at Frederick city there is a 
splendid system of macadamized roads. An electric 
road from Washington to Gettysburg will pass through 
Frederick county. 

The county is dotted over with thriving and pic- 
turesque villages. The farms are admirably improved 
and splendidly cultivated. Lands range in price from 
$25 to $120 per acre. The soil of the main valley — 
that of the Monocacy — is of limestone. Middletown 
valley is a freestone soil, but as fertile as the valley of 
the Monocacy* 

The county tax rate in Frederick for 1908 is 95 
cents. 

Frederick county is bounded on the north by Penn- 
slyvania, on the east by Carroll county, on the south 
by Montgomery county and Virginia, and on the west 
by Washington county, the crest of South mountain 
being the dividing line. 

Frederick county, according to the United States 
census for 1905, which did not include all the smaller 
establishments and custom or repair shops, shows the 
following figures for the county as to larger manu- 
factures : 

Number of establishments, 127. 
Capital invested, $2,292,542. 
Cost of materials used, $2,055,250. 
Value of products, $3,332,842. 



Garrett County. 14 1 

A report of the United States Census Department 
recently shows that in 1899 the acreage, bushels and 
percentage of yield of corn in Frederick county was 
greater than any county in the -State. From 57,4 8 4 
acres was grown 2,279,040 bushels of corn. 

The census report on wheat the same year shows 
that Frederick was the banner county in the State 
in the acreage, amount and percentage of yield of 
wheat. From 92,620 acres were grown 1,314,280 bush- 
els, or 1 1.4 per cent, of total yield of the State. 

In 1905 the wheat crop was about the average, but 
the corn crop was the largest in the history of the 
county. 

GARRETT COUNTY. 

Garrett county comprises the western end of the 
State. It is bounded on the north by the Mason and 
Dixon Line, which separates it from Pennsylvania; 
on the west by West Virginia ; on the south and south- 
west by West Virginia, and on the east by Allegany 
county. The geographical survey divides the county 
into the Potomac Valley District, the Savage Valley 
District, the Glades Valley District, the Castleman Val- 
ley District and the Youghiogheny Valley District. 
Along the western boundary of the county there is an 
elevation of over 3,000 feet above the sea level. This 
includes the crest-line of the Great Backbone and Big 
Savage mountains. Between these mountains lie a 
range of broad, flat-topped or gently arching hills. 

The entire county is mountainous, but everywhere 
over the surface, covering hill and valley alike, is found 
a coating of soil varying in depth and grading im- 
perceptibly into the underlying or resting directly upon 



142 The State of Maryland. 

the surface of the rocks. In the valleys the soil is 
usually deep and productive, and on the mountain 
slope it is shallow and stony. In some places the soil 
is stained a deep red, not altogether unlike the under- 
lying beds of shale and sandstone. In other places the 
productive clays seem to bear no relation whatever to 
the deeply buried limestone, while on the mountain 
tops the soils seem but a mass of broken gray sand- 
stone, mixed with small amounts of sand and clay. It 
is this soil covering with which the farmer has to deal. 

Mr. Clarence W. Dorsey, in an article on Garrett 
county, says : 

"Its surface is that of a broad, rolling plateau. * * 
The greater part of the country is well drained, but 
there are several areas of considerable size in the cen- 
tral portion which are considered swampy; these are 
known as glades. * * * A large portion of the 
county is included within farm boundaries, and more 
than half of the farm area is not improved. The aver- 
age sized farm is about 150 acres, but there are many 
which are over 1,000 acres. * * * The soils con- 
sist mostly of sandy loams." 

The soils of Garrett county, in the valleys, yield 
easily to cultivation, and the principal products are 
buckwheat, oats, hay and potatoes, and a fair yield, 
in some sections, of wheat, rye and corn. 

The principal manufactures of the county emanate 
from the forests which are plentiful, and consist of 
lumber, shingles, staves and the mining of coal and 
shale. 

One of Garrett's chief sources of wealth is her min- 
erals, coal, fireclay and limestone. The Georges Creek 
coal fields lie along the boundary line between Garrett 



Garrett County. 143 

and Allegany counties, the major portion being in the 
latter county, but considerable of the coal being in Gar- 
rett. The Georges Creek coal is known all over the 
United States as being of a superior quality. Along 
the Potomac river, the southeastern boundary of Gar- 
rett, lies another field of coal, which is being de- 
veloped. 

While practically throughout the entire county coal 
may be found, as yet it is undeveloped, except as above 
stated, it being the smaller veins, and only worked 
where it lies near to railroads. It can be said Gar- 
rett's resources are inexhaustible. It is only within the 
past few years that the small seams of coal are being 
worked, and as the years pass and the large veins be- 
come exhausted, it naturally follows that the small 
veins will be opened up more extensively. 

Fire-clay is found in abundance in some portions of 
the county, notably the northern section. Limestone is 
plentiful. 

According to the census of 1900 there were 1,788 
farms in the county, the estimated value of which, in 
1903, was about $4,671,500, and the total assessed val- 
ue of property in the county amounted to $7,612,488. 

Garrett has good facilities for reaching the markets 
of the East and West, being traversed by the main line 
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from east to west. 
The Western Maryland Railroad follows the Potomac 
river along the southeastern boundary of the county. 
The Confluence and Oakland Railroad runs from Con- 
fluence, Pa., to Krug, and Jennings Brothers railroad 
from the Baltimore and Ohio, at West Salisbury, up^ 
to Castleman Valley to a point near Bittinger. The 
old National Turnpike traverses the northern part of 
the county from east to west. 



144 The State of Maryland. 

On account of the vast amount of humus in the soil 
in the "Glades" the land is of great value for pro- 
ducing such crops as require a moist and cool climate. 
There is great opportunity for truck farming in Gar- 
rett county, as well as the raising of stock. Dairying 
could be profitably engaged in. Land is plentiful and 
can be bought cheap, say from $5 to $40 per acre, and 
as the county offers considerable advantages for the 
raising of fruits, berries and vegetables, these indus- 
tries could be profitably engaged in. Oakland being 
but 11 hours from New York, and less to Baltimore 
and Washington, the mountain fruits and vegetables 
could be easily transported at profitable prices to these 
markets. 

The government census of manufactures for 1905 
contains the following statistics of Garrett: 

Number of establishments, 40. 

Capital invested, $1,057,146. 

Cost of materials used, $619,140. 

Value of products, $1,645,225. 

The manufacturing and mining industries com- 
prise the principal industries of the county. 

The population of Garrett by the census of 1900 was 
17,701. It is rapidly growing, and the county is 
increasing in wealth as its great resources are devel- 
oped. The population is almost exclusively white, 
there being not more than a few dozen negroes among 
them. There are 132 white and one colored public 
school in the county. Oakland, the county seat, is a 
pretty town on the glades, with a delightful summer 
climate. The nights in midsummer are cool and 
delightful all over this mountainous country. Deer 
Park and Mountain Lake Park, also on the glades, are 
noted summer resorts. 



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Harford County. 145 

HARFORD COUNTY. 

Harford is one of the most beautiful and fertile 
counties in the whole land. Except that portion which 
borders on the Chesapeake, it lies high and is well 
drained and exceedingly healthy. The landscape is 
superb, the farm improvements excellent and the 
people are prosperous. Land can be bought from $5 
to $75 per acre. It has an area of 388 miles, occupying 
that part of Maryland lying between Baltimore county 
and the Susquehanna river. It extends from the 
Pennslyvania line to the Chesapeake bay, which forms 
its southeastern boundary. The population in 1900 
was 28,269. There are 106 white and 18 colored 
schools. 

The number of farms in the county in 1900 was 
2,431, with an acreage of 248,925. The principal 
products are corn, wheat, hay, oats, rye and tomatoes, 
the total value of the tomato crop, canned and sold in 
the raw state, for the year 1903, approximated 
$3>5oo,ooo. In the past thirty years canning has been 
engaged in more and more, until now it forms one of 
the chief industries of the county. The value of the 
finished product in this industry alone approximates 
from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. 

A large number of beef cattle are raised for the 
market. This is of a high grade in quality, and finds 
a ready sale for export purposes. 

Considerable slate and serpentine rock are found 
near the Pennslyvania line, and the demand for the 
slate is always greater than the supply. 

Deposits of chrome have also been found in the 
upper parts of the county. Throughout different parts 
of the county there is an excellent grade of building 
stone. 



146 The State of Maryland. 

On the Susquehanna flats congregate annually great 
flocks of canvas-back and other ducks. The hunting 
of this wild fowl gives subsistence to a number of 
people, and is supposed in one way and another, 
together with the fishing industries in the spring at 
Havre de Grace and Lapidum, to yield $150,000 
annually. The shad fisheries of the Susquehanna in 
Harford and Cecil counties form an important indus- 
try, and the supply of fish is maintained by the 
hatcheries. 

The incorporated towns of the county are Belair, 
the county seat, and Aberdeen. Havre de Grace is a 
city situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna river. 
Other towns in the county not incorporated are 
Abingdon, Churchville, Harford Furnace, Perryman, 
Forest Hill, Fallston, Darlington, Jarrettsville. 

The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Rail- 
road, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Maryland and 
Pennsylvania railroads traverse the county and make 
excellent facilities in reaching the market with the 
products of the farm and the factory. 

The manufactures of Harford county by the census 
of manufactures for 1905, excluding all smaller manu- 
facturing establishments, gives the following figures: 

Number of establishments, 183. 
Capital invested, $2,584,159. 
Cost of materials used, $2,131,674. 
Value of products, $3,042,692. 

HOWARD COUNTY. 

Howard county lies between Baltimore, Carroll, 
Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's and Anne 
Arundel counties. The Patapsco river forms its 



Howard County. 147 

northern border, and it is partly traversed by two 
small branches of the Patuxent river. Another branch 
of the same river separates the county from Mont- 
gomery. The area of Howard county is about 250 
square miles, and its topography is hilly and broken, 
with forests and fertile hillsides. The land of the 
county is especially adapted to raising wheat, corn 
and hay. The price of farming lands ranges from $15 
to $100 per acre. 

The population of the county was 16,715 in 1900. 
There are 1,214 farms in the county, embracing 
147,000 acres in round numbers. Very little tobacco 
is now raised in Howard, the principal products are 
wheat, corn, hay and dairy products. 

The county tax rate for 1908 was $1.00, and there 
are 57 white and 13 colored schools in the county. 

In granite, marble and building stones and feldspar 
Howard is rich. The granite deposits are of impor- 
tance. Immense quantities of this stone are being 
quarried annually from Ellicott City, Guilford and 
other localities. The stone varies in texture; that 
quarried at Ellicott City and Guilford being suited for 
building purposes, while the quarries of Atholton pro- 
duce a fine, white stone suited for monumental uses. 

The United States census for 1905, enumerating the 
manufacturing concerns only that produce upward of 
$500 worth of product per year, give the following 
figures : 

Number of establishments, 17. 
Capital invested, $825,680. 
Cost of materials used, $740,329. 
Value of products, $1,436,613. 



148 The State of Maryland. 

An estimate made by a citizen of Howard county 
gives the following figures for industries in the 
county : 

Cotton Goods — Capitalization, $350,000; employes, 
700; amount paid annually in wages, $160,000. 

Granite Quarries — Capitalization, $100,000; em- 
ployees, 500; annual wages, $200,000. 

Feldspar Quarries — Capitalization, $100,000; em- 
ployees, 500; annual wages, $50,000. 

The main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
skirts along the entire northeastern border of Howard 
and the Washington branch is on its southern border. 
There is an electric road from Ellicott City, the county 
seat, to Baltimore, with cars running at short inter- 
vals. From Laurel, which is partly in Howard, there 
is an electric line to Washington and also from Annap- 
olis Junction on the border of Howard; there is an 
electric line to Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington. 
The soil of Howard county is good and productive. 
The county is well wooded and watered, the landscape 
fine, the country healthy. A more pleasant, healthy 
and accessible country to live in it would be hard to 
find. 

St. Charles' and Woodstock colleges, both fine Cath- 
olic institutions, are in Howard county, the former 
near Ellicott City and the latter at Woodstock. 

Redemptorist College, at Ilchester, Howard county, 
is a Catholic theological school. 

KENT COUNTY. 

Kent county has an area of 315 square miles, of 
which about 65 miles are water. It is located in the 
northern portion of the Eastern Shore. The first set- 



Kent County. 149 

tlement within the present limits of Maryland was 
made on Kent Island, now in Queen Anne's county, in 
1628 by Virginians, under the leadership of William 
Clayborne. Calvert claimed the island as part of his 
grant, and the contention was not ended until 1647, 
when Clayborne was dispossessed. The county now 
has a population of 19,000. The county town, Chester- 
town, was laid out in 1706. 

There are 68 white and 20 colored schools in the 
county. 

The incorporated towns of Kent are Chestertown, 
with 3,000 inhabitants; Galena, with 500; Still Pond 
and Millington, with 700. Other towns are Rock Hall, 
Kennedyville, Chesterville, Betterton, Lankford, Po- 
mona, Worton Station, Lynch, Massey, Fairlee, Mel- 
tota, Edesville and Golts. 

Kent county is separated from Delaware on the east 
by a line run by Mason and Dixon. The western 
boundary of the county is formed by the upper portion 
of the Chesapeake bay while the Sassafras river sep- 
arates it from Cecil county and the Chester river from 
Queen Anne's county. The county is located between 
the parallels of 39° and 39° 22" north latitude, and be- 
tween the meridians of 75° 45" and j6° 16" west long- 
itude. 

While wheat and corn are the staple crops, the 
county is well set in peach and pear trees, and nearly 
every farmer has five or more acres in tomatoes. As- 
paragus beds are found on many farms, while dairy- 
ing, stock raising and sheep raising enter largely into 
the industries of the county. The waters teem with 
fish, oysters, crabs and turtle. The number of farms 
is estimated to be 956, of an average acreage of 179 



150 The State of Maryland. 

acres. The value of these farms is from $25 to $60 
per acre. 

The crab, fish and oyster industry supply a means of 
livelihood for 1,000 persons. 

Kent county is bounded by over 80 miles of coast 
line. The head of navigation on both the Sassafras 
and Chester rivers is not reached until near the Dela- 
ware line, and the entire western limit of the county is 
formed by the Chesapeake bay. 

Five or six steamboat lines carry freight and pas- 
sengers to Baltimore and Philadelphia, and during the 
grain and fruit seasons extra freight steamers are pro- 
vided. Two railroads cross the county, one having 
its terminals at Chestertown and at Townsend, while 
the other connects Centreville, Queen Anne's county, 
with the trunk lines farther north, entering Kent coun- 
ty at Millington, and crossing the Delaware line at 
Golts. The railroads cross each other at Massey, and 
together furnish communication with the Pennsylvania 
system. 

The canning of fruits and vegetables is the main 
manufacturing industry of the county. There are also 
several large establishments manufacturing crates and 
baskets, straw boards, etc., the latter being one of the 
largest establishments of its kind in the State. 

The manufactures of the county producing upwards 
of $500 worth of product each year, and excluding cer- 
tain repairing and custom shops, is thus stated by the 
census of 1905 : 

Number of establishments, 38. 
Capital invested, $846,990. 
Cost of material used, $424436. 
Value of products, %tej,7? ) 'j. 



Montgomery County. 151 

Chestertown, the county seat of Kent, is beautifully 
situated on Chester river, within a few hours by steam- 
boat from Baltimore. It is a most attractive town, and 
the seat of Washington College, one of the most ven- 
erable of American schools, dating back to 1780. 
Since 1890 young women, as well as young men, have 
been admitted to its courses. 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Montgomery is one of the two counties of Maryland 
which border on the District of Columbia. It has 
profited enormously by that vicinage, receiving a 
large overflow population from Washington. This 
population is most desirable, and consists of persons 
employed by the United States in the departments and 
by lawyers and Washington business people who pre- 
fer homes in the country. For a place for homes Mont- 
gomery is most attractive. The climate is pleasant 
and healthy, the land lies high, and there are no 
swamps, no malaria and no mosquitoes. The county 
is dotted over with well-kept farmhouses on well-tilled 
farms, and with scores of towns and villages. The 
construction of the Metropolitan branch of the Balti- 
more and Ohio a number of years ago opened up the 
county to these new residents, and brought lime down 
from Frederick county, which has greatly increased 
the yield of wheat. Upon land which was in former, 
years regarded as almost valueless the yield of wheat 
is now 30 to 40 bushels to the acre. Wheat, corn, hay, 
milk, orchard and garden products are the chief 
sources of wealth to the people. The close proximity 
of the Washington market makes the production of 
milk, poultry, vegetables and fruit most profitable. 



152 The State of Maryland. 

Farm land sells, according to quality, location and im- 
provements, at from $10 to $100 per acre. 

Montgomery has an area of 508 square miles. It is 
bounded on the southwest by the State of Virginia, 
from which it is separated by the Potomac; on the 
northwest by Frederick county; on the northeast by 
Howard county, from which it is separated by the Pa- 
tuxent, and on the southeast and south by Prince 
George's county and the District of Columbia. 

The population of the county, according to the Fed- 
eral census of 1900, was 30,451. 

Rockville, the county seat, is a beautiful little town, 
with pretty homes and shaded streets and a cultivated 
society. It is on the Baltimore and Ohio, about 15 
miles from Washington, with which it is also con- 
nected by an electric road. 

Every facility for education is offered. The public 
free school system has 112 schools for whites and 29 
colored schools. In addition, there are the following 
schools: Rockville High School, Rockville Academy, 
Brookville Academy, Rockville Institution for Young 
Ladies, Rockville Kindergarten, Briarly Hall for 
Young Ladies, Poolesville; Andrew Small Academy, 
Darnestown; Fair View Seminary, Oakmont. 

Montgomery county has 2,085 farms, containing 
283,469 acres, valued at $9,491,390, exclusive of build- 
ings, worth $3,525,170. 

Sandstone, marble and slate are quarried in upper 
Montgomery ; chrome is found in several localities. 

The Great Falls of the Potomac is one of the largest 
available water-powers in the country. The develop- 
ment and utilization of this mighty agency for manu- 
facturing purposes, already undertaken by an organi- 



Prince George's County. 153 

zation of business men with large capital, must pro- 
mote the material prosperity of the county. 

There are five banks and savings institutions in 
the county, with a combined capital of $225,000, and 
the savings institution at Sandy Spring has deposits 
of $690,000, the combined deposits of all of them 
being $1,709,000. 

The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgom- 
ery County, with office at Sandy Spring, Md., was 
chartered and commenced operations in the year 1848. 

The manufactures of Montgomery of larger size 
are enumerated by the census in 1905 as follows : 

Number of establishments, 31. 
Capital invested, $260,979. 
Cost of materials used, $275,316. 
Value of products, $381,095. 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. 

Prince George's, like Montgomery county, adjoins 
the District of Columbia and also receives vast ad- 
vantage from that proximity. Washington furnishes 
a market for its food products, and a large number of 
people doing business in the city or holding govern- 
ment positions build houses and make their homes 
in the county. Its area is 480 square miles and its 
population in 1900 was 29,898. Along the Washington 
branch of the B. & O. road there is a succession of 
suburban towns. 

The county is bounded on the west by the Potomac 
river, on the east by the Patuxent. Montgomery, 
Howard, Anne Arundel, Charles and Calvert counties 
and the District of Columbia surround it. 



154 The State of Maryland. 

There are no white and 37 colored schools in the 
county. At Upper Marlboro, the county seat, there 
is an academy. 

There are 2,374 farms in the county, producing 
tobacco, corn, wheat and vegetables, the estimated 
value of the crops for 1905 being $1,500,000, and 
giving employment to (including owners and tenants) 
at least 5,000 persons. Farm lands sell from $4 to $30. 

The total number of manufacturing establishments 
in the county is estimated at 60, the greater number 
of them being small, employing only one or two men. 
According to the census of 1905, of factories produc- 
ing more than $500 a year, the following statistics are 
given : 

Number of establishments, 42. 

Capital invested, $783,022. 

Cost of materials used, $173,138. 

Value of products, $359,747. 

The two principal industries are the Laurel Cotton 
Mill and the Muirkirk Iron Furnace. 

Underlying the region near Marlboro there are vast 
marl beds which may become valuable. The Patuxent 
marshes are famous for wild fowl. 

There are a number of railroads in Prince George's. 
The Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio 
crosses the upper section. Across the center of the 
vounty is the Pennsylvania, with a branch from Bowie 
to the southern boundary. The Washington, Potomac 
and Chesapeake leads from Brandywine down through 
Charles and St. Mary's. The Chesapeake Beach road 
runs across the county from Washington, through 
Marlboro, to the Patuxent and on to the bay. From 
Laurel to Washington there is an electric road. 



Queen Anne's County. 155 

QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. 

A more beautiful and desirable land to live in than 
Queen Anne's county it would be hard to find. It is 
healthy, accessible to market, the soil is fertile and 
easy to cultivate, the farms are well improved, the 
roads are good, schools and churches convenient to 
all the people and taxes are low. The county extends 
from the Chesapeake to Delaware, with Kent county, 
from which it is separated by Chester river, to the 
north, and Talbot and Caroline to the south. There 
is a line of steamers from Centreville, the county seat, 
on Corsica river, to Baltimore, and a branch of the 
Pennsylvania road connects the town with the N. Y., 
P. & N. road at Townsend, Del. Steamers also ply 
from Queenstown, Love Point and other places in the 
county to Baltimore, and the Maryland, Virginia and 
Delaware (formerly the Queen Anne's Railroad) 
crosses the county from Love Point to the ocean. 
From Love Point the railroad is connected by steam- 
boats with Baltimore. 

The county has a population of nearly 19,000, and 
an area of 422 square miles, of which 46 are water 
surface. The tax rate in the county for 1908 was 95 
cents. 

There are J J white and 21 colored schools in the 
county. 

Centreville, Sudlersville, Church Hill, Crumpton, 
Queenstown, Stevensville and Queen Anne are among 
the incorporated towns, while Templeville, Winches- 
ter, Chester and Ruthsburg are among those not incor- 
porated. 

Wheat, corn, hay, fruit and vegetables constitute the 
principal products of agriculture. 



156 The State of Maryland. 

There are i,47S farms in the county, employing 
4,725 hands, and the value of the crops in 1905 was 
estimated at $1,900,000. 

Oysters and fish are plentiful, and 1,500 to 2,000 
persons find employment in the industry. 

The packing industry of Queen Anne's is also a 
growing one, at least 65,000 cases of tomatoes, fruits 
and vegetables having been packed in the county in 
1905. Fruits and vegetables may be shipped daily 
to the great markets of the East and North in time 
to be received fresh and ready for use at those points 
the next morning. 

The manufacturing industries of the county, ac- 
cording to the United States report for 1905, of all 
those of larger size are as follows : 

Number of establishments, 29. 

Capital invested, $259,280. 

Cost of materials used, $272,282. 

Value of products, $376,638. 

SOMERSET COUNTY. 

Somerset is the most southern county of Maryland. 
Its soil is mainly sandy, being well adapted to the 
production of fruit and vegetables. It is easily worked 
and can be readily improved. Large quantities of 
strawberries and other small fruit, as well as vege- 
tables, are produced. Land is cheap, ranging in value 
from $4 to $20 per acre. The cheap land, mild climate 
and other favorable conditions are attracting many 
settlers from the Western States as well as from for- 
eign countries. 

Somerset has a population of about 28,000, one-half 
of which is engaged in the oyster, crab and fish busi- 
ness. 



Somerset County. 157 

Princess Anne, the county seat, and Crisfield are the 
only incorporated towns in the county. 

There are 86 white and 28 colored schools in the 
county. 

Somerset county is one of the largest markets and 
shipping points in the country for oysters, crabs and 
fish. 

Crisfield, the largest town in the county, has a pop- 
ulation of over 5,000 and a suburban population with- 
in two miles of the town limits of 4,000, and conse- 
quently there is plenty of labor. It also has one of the 
deepest and finest harbors on the Chesapeake bay. It 
is a large oyster shipping point in winter, and in sum- 
mer is the largest crab shipping point in the world. 
The oyster pack for the winter of 1904-1905 was 350,- 
000 bushels, worth about $275,000. The soft crab bus- 
iness has been largely developed in recent years. Con- 
servative estimates place the quantity shipped in 1905 
at 1,400,000 dozen, worth $500,000. 

During the past two years the shipping of crab meat 
has been added to that of shipping soft crabs and oys- 
ters. About 70,000 gallons were shipped from Cris- 
field in 1905 and sold for between $60,000 and $70,000. 

From early March until October 1st, shad, blue fish, 
trout and a few other varieties are caught and about 
100 barrels shipped a week. 

The production of tomatoes has increased during the 
past two years to supply the two dozen canning houses 
which have sprung up during that time. Corn, wheat 
and potatoes are largely produced, though strawberry 
and tomato crops have become the principal ones, and 
are worth from $150,000 to $250,000 each. 



158 The State of Maryland. 

The transportation facilities of the county are good. 
The N. Y., P. & N. Railroad Company, a branch of 
the Pennsylvania running through the county, giving 
all points from Crisfield north a number of fine through 
trains daily to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. 
Crisfield and Deal's Island have daily boats to and 
from Baltimore. The Crisfield Steam Packet Com- 
pany, with a good steamer, is also covering all points 
on the water in the county, and also all the nearby 
islands. A large number of gasoline boats, with a 
tonnage of from 5 to 50 tons each, are also engaged 
in running freight from points on the Western Shore 
of Maryland and Virginia to Crisfield for shipment 
north over the railroad every day. 

The census of manufactures for 1905 of the Govern- 
ment shows the following figures for establishments 
of a larger size, and excluding all repair and custom 
shops : 

Number of establishments, 60. 
Capital invested, $569,090. 
Cost of materials used, $507,206. 
Value of products, $873,735. 

ST. MARY'S COUNTY. 

St. Mary's county is the scene of the first settlement 
of Maryland by Lord Baltimore, and the place of the 
settlement at St. Mary's city is marked by a monument. 

The county is almost an island, being bounded on the 
south by the Potomac, on the east by the Chesapeake, 
on the north by the Patuxent, and on the west by the 
Wicomico river. 

The waters that almost surround St. Mary's, and 
many of their numerous branches, called creeks or 



St. Mary's County. 159 

bays, that indent the county, are navigable and im- 
portant water courses, and no resident is more than six 
miles from navigable water. 

Along the rivers the land is generally flat and rises 
gently towards the interior, but the elevation attained 
is slight. 

The county is long and narrow and has an area of 
360 square miles. 

According to the census there were 1,292 farms in 
St. Mary's county in 1900, with a total of 192,503 
acres therein, and the population at the same time was 
18,136. 

Near the water courses the soil is generally dark, 
heavy loam, becoming lighter and sandier towards 
the interior, and if judiciously farmed is kind and 
productive. 

Temperate summers, long autumns and mild winters 
specially adapt the county to the raising of stock. 
The rapid growth of clover and grasses makes graz- 
ing possible for 10 months of the year, and nearness 
to markets and cheap water transportation gives pecu- 
liar advantages to this industry. 

Corn, wheat and tobacco are the staple crops of the 
section. Fine vegetables of all kinds are easily pro- 
duced, and clover and hay grasses thrive. Small fruits 
produce plentifully, with little care, and apples, pears 
and peaches are renumerative crops. 

Farms may be purchased at reasonable figures and 
on good terms. The inland farms can usually be 
bought cheap, while the lands on the rivers are held 
at higher prices. The ordinary price ranging from 
$5 to $30 per acre. 

Nearly a fourth of the county is in timber, includ- 
ing pine, oak, poplar, ash, chestnut, hickory, walnut, 



160 The State of Maryland. 

beech, gum and birch, which supply all demands for 
firewood, fencing and materials for building. 

The waters of the county abound in fish and oysters, 
and the catching and shipping of them gives employ- 
ment to a large number of persons. 

Numerous steamers and sailing vessels furnish 
transportation to the nearby cities of Baltimore and 
Washington, but the railroad facilities are limited to a 
short line connecting with the Pennsylvania system, 
which does not reach the larger portion of the county. 

There is a national bank at Leonardtown, the 
county seat of St. Mary's. The public schools are 105 
in number, j6 white and 29 colored. St. Mary's 
Academy, at Leonardtown; St. Mary's Seminary, at 
St. Mary's city, and Charlotte Hall Academy, are 
among the institutions of the county. 

The report of the Census Bureau on manufactures 
for 1905 shows the following figures for the county: 

Number of establishments, 7. 
Capital invested, $14,800. 

TALBOT COUNTY. 

Talbot county lies on the Eastern Shore, with a 
considerable portion of it facing the Chesapeake bay, 
and is bounded on the north by Queen Anne's, on 
the east and southeast by Caroline, on the south by 
the Choptank river, and on the west by the Eastern 
bay and Chesapeake bay. It has a population of about 
26,000 and an area of 286 square miles, with a large 
water surface. It is cut up into peninsulas by the 
Chesapeake bay and its tributaries, and is famous for 
its beautiful landscapes and water fronts. 



Talbot County. 161 

Easton, the county seat of Talbot, is a thriving place 
of 3,450 inhabitants. Other villages are St. Michaels, 
Claiborne, Trappe, Tunis Mills, Matthews, Lewistown, 
Royal Oak, Oxford, Skipton, Wye Mills, Cordova, 
Tilghman, Bellevue and others. 

The county has ample facilities for transportation. 
In addition to the B., C. & A. Railroad, the Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad and the 
Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railroad and con- 
nections, its rivers and bay front are daily touched 
by the numerous steamboat lines plying from Balti- 
more, thus placing the markets of Baltimore, Wash- 
ington and New York within a day's reach of the 
farmers and fishermen. 

There are well-graded high schools in Easton, 
Trappe, St. Michaels and Oxford, 66 white and 18 
colored schools in the county. 

Agriculture, canning and oyster culture are its prin- 
cipal industries. The land is a rich loam, light in parts 
and quickly responding to cultivation. Small fruits 
abound throughout the county in great variety, and 
vegetables, wheat, corn, tomatoes and potatoes are 
among its most prominent products. The canning es- 
tablishments, which have become quite numerous, are 
putting up large quantities of tomatoes, peas and fruits, 
and this is a growing industry. Improved land on the 
river side is worth from $40 to $150 per acre. The 
yield of wheat to the acre in Talbot is as large, 
perhaps, as in any county in Maryland. 

There are 768 boats of all kinds engaged in the oys- 
ter industry, and about 2,400 persons find a livelihood 
in taking and shipping the oysters. 



162 The State of Maryland. 

Fish in the county's waters are plentiful, the Chop- 
tank and Tuckahoe abounding in shad, perch, rock and 
other food fish. 

The manufacturing industries of Talbot consist 
largely in packing houses, canneries, grist mills, wood- 
working factories, etc. The capital invested is $649,- 
209. 

Cost of materials used, $607,157. 

Value of products, $932,666. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Washington is one of the wealthiest, most progres- 
sive and populous counties of Maryland. It lies be- 
tween Frederick and Allegany, and extends from Penn- 
sylvania on the north to West Virginia and Virginia 
on the south. For yy miles the Potomac river and the 
Chesapeake and Ohio canal flow along its southern 
border. The area of the county is 458 square miles, 
most of which is contained in the great valley of the 
Conococheague, 20 miles wide, lying between the Blue 
Ridge and the Alleghany mountains. This valley is 
the northern extension of the Valley of Virginia, which 
was known in Civil war times as the granary of the 
Confederacy. The soil is limestone and of great fertil- 
ity, splendidly adapted to the cultivation of wheat, 
which is the principal crop ; of corn, hay, fruit and veg- 
etables, dairy products and poultry. It is splendidly 
farmed and well improved. The best lands, well lo- 
cated, fetch over $100 an acre and will produce 30 or 
40 bushels of wheat. But there is much land in the 
western end of the county which is excellent for graz- 
ing and for the growth of apples and peaches, which 
can be bought for a far smaller price. The number of 



Washington County. 163 

farms is 2,400 and the acreage 280,000. The popula- 
tion is about 46,000. There are 140 white and 11 col- 
ored common schools, high schools, and at Hagers- 
town a Woman's College and other schools. 

In size and importance Hagerstown ranks third 
among Maryland towns. Its present population is es- 
timated at nearly 20,000, and it is the seat of a large 
manufacturing industry, including an automobile fac- 
tory, one of the largest table works in the county, a 
Portland cement plant with an annual capacity of 
360,000 barrels, knitting mills, spoke and bending 
works, furniture factories, paper mills, silk mills, organ 
works, a brewery and a long list of smaller industries. 
The total number of factories in Washington county, 
exclusive of the small ones, is 115, having an annual 
output of products worth $4,650,000. There are many 
flouring mills in the county, which convert the wheat 
crop into flour before it is shipped to market. At Wil- 
liamsport there is a large and prosperous tannery. 
Hagerstown is the seat of the celebrated Hagerstown 
Fair, one of the largest poultry shows and agricultural 
fairs in the United States. It is at the meeting point of 
a system of fine turnpike roads which radiate from it as 
a center, penetrating every district of Washington 
county and extending into adjoining counties. It is also 
a railroad center. The Washington County road con- 
nects it at Weverton, 24 miles distant on the Potomac, 
with the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio, east 
and west, and with the Valley branch, extending to 
Lexington. The Cumberland Valley road connects at 
Harrisburg with the Pennsylvania system, of which 
it is a part, and southward connects Hagerstown with 
Winchester, Va., and Martinsburg, W. Va. The West- 



164 The State of Maryland. 

ern Maryland is the shortest line to Baltimore, and 
passing westward it runs to Cumberland, where it con- 
nects with the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg, 
which it has absorbed. From Hagerstown a branch of 
this road runs northward through the Cumberland val- 
ley, Pennsylvania, connecting at Shippensburg with 
the Reading system. Hagerstown is the northern 
terminus of the Norfolk and Western. The Shenan- 
doah Valley division of that road runs from Hagers- 
town to the main line at Roanoke, 230 miles distant. 
In addition to the steam roads, Hagerstown has an 
electric railway through its streets and extending 
across the mountains to Frederick city, Williamsport 
on the southwest, and northward into Pennsylvania. 
The tax rate in 1908 was 84 cents. 

WICOMICO COUNTY. 

Wicomico county is bounded on the north by Dela- 
ware, on the south by Somerset county and Worcester 
county, on the east by Worcester county, and on the 
west by D)orchester county. It contains 367 square 
miles, with a large water surface. It lies 130 miles 
south of Philadelphia and 85 miles southeast of Balti- 
more. Its eastern limit is about 15 miles from thd 
Atlantic ocean and its population is 23,000. 

The towns are Salisbury, Delmar, Sharptown, 
Quantico, Mardela Springs, Hebron, Fruitland, Pitts- 
ville, Parsonsburg, Willard, Bivalve, Nanticoke, White 
Haven, Jesterville, Allen and Riverton. 

Salisbury, the county seat, is advantageously situ- 
ated at the head of navigation on the Wicomico river, 
at the junction of the New York, Philadelphia and 
Norfolk and the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic 



Wicomico County. 165 

railroads, 30 miles from Ocean City, on the Atlantic 
ocean. The city is substantially built and has a popu- 
lation of about 5,000. It has 10 miles of well-graded 
and paved streets and a sewerage system. 

The soil of Wicomico varies in character from a 
light loam to a red clay loam. Generally the land is 
well adapted to the growth of cereals, grass, apples, 
peaches, pears and small fruits, especially strawberries 
and blackberries, of which immense crops are grown. 
Strawberries commence to ripen from the 5th to the 
20th of May, and last until the first to the middle of 
July, according to the variety and season. 

The climate is mild and healthy. The proximity 
of the Gulf stream and the presence of the bodies 
of salt water render it pleasant, uniform and health- 
ful throughout the year. Cattle need scarcely be fed 
or housed during the winter, farm work, and even 
plowing, can generally be done during some part of 
every month in the year. 

The purest drinking water can be obtained by 
driven wells at a very small expense. 

Land can be bought for from $5 to $50 per acre. 

The Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers and their 
tributaries supply the people of the county with shad, 
rock, perch and other kinds of fish, as well as an 
abundance of oysters. 

The oyster packing industry is not as large as 
formerly, and planting is now being entered into by 
several of the largest packers. It is expected that 
within a few years most of the oyster bottoms along 
the rivers will be under artificial propagation. 

At present there are but four oyster packing houses 
in Wicomico, and it is estimated that at least $100,000 



166 The State of Maryland. 

is invested in this property, oyster catching machin- 
ery and shore property. There are about 600 men 
employed on boats in the taking of oysters, and an 
additional number engaged in the packing and 
shipping. Much money is also invested and a number 
of people employed in the fish industry in the western 
section of the county. 

The packing of soft crabs and the shipping of hard 
crab meat, in various ways, is one of the new and 
growing industries of the county. 

Wicomico county is well adapted to the growing of 
small fruits and truck, prominent among which are 
strawberries, blackberries, huckleberries, cantaloupes 
and watermelons, in addition to which there is a con- 
siderable amount of corn, wheat and tomatoes raised. 

Within the past few years great strides have been 
made in the growing of grasses and grains, and the 
land has been improved for cattle feeding. There are 
upwards of 3,000 acres of land set in strawberries, 
yielding about 3,000 quarts to the acre. It is esti- 
mated that in a good year 9,000,000 quarts, salable at 
an average price of five cents net to the grower, will 
yield, in round numbers, $450,000. It is estimated 
that there are 1,000 acres set in blackberries, which 
yield about 2,000 quarts to the acre, making a total 
crop of 2,000,000 quarts, which it would take at least 
1,000 pickers to gather, and means a net income to 
the growers of $150,000. 

The huckleberry grows wild in Wicomico, and the 
fruit belongs to whoever will pick it. It is mostly 
found in the swampy and low lands of the county in 
large quantities, and as it costs nothing to cultivate, 
it is a net revenue to the pickers. The fruit is pur- 



Worcester County. 167 

chased by the country stores and shipped to Northern 
markets, where it brings good prices. 

There is also a large acreage in raspberries, and 
the wild asparagus crop brings considerable money to 
the county. 

The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad 
runs through it from north to south, and is a trunk 
line from New York to Richmond and Norfolk. The 
B., C. & A. Railway crosses the county from east to 
west, running from the Atlantic ocean to the Chesa- 
peake bay. A large fleet of sailing and packet vessels 
offers cheap transportation to Baltimore, and steam- 
boats run on the Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers every 
day. 

There are 91 white and 17 colored schools in the 
county. 

The United States census of manufactures for 1905 
is as follows: 

Number of establishments, 124. 
Capital invested, $1,370,878. 
Cost of materials used, $1,321,628. 
Value of products $2,029,292. 

WORCESTER COUNTY. 

Worcester county's area is 487 square miles, of 
which Synepuxent, Chineoteague, Isle of Wight, Asso- 
woman and Newport bays form about one-quarter. 
The whole eastern boundary of the county is the At- 
lantic ocean. A narrow strip of beach, ranging from 
one-quarter of a mile to one mile in width, forms the 
coast and is separated from the mainland by the bays 
above mentioned. The narrowest part of the water is 



1 68 The State of Maryland. 

at Ocean City, a prosperous seaside resort, where it is 
spanned by a bridge about one-quarter of a mile in 
length. The widest part of the bay is just below Snow 
Hill, where it is about eight miles from shore to shore. 
Delaware is the northern and Virginia the southern 
boundary. 

The population of the county is over 21,000, and 
the assessed valuation of property is over $6,000,000. 

Snow Hill is the county seat. Pocomoke City is 14 
miles south of Snow Hill, and is connected therewith 
by the local packet line, also by the boats of the B., C. 
& A. R. R. Co. Berlin, 16 miles north of Snow Hill 
and eight miles west of Ocean City, is at the junction 
of the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia branch of the 
P., B. & W. R. R. and the B., C. & A. Railway. 

The thriving villages are Stockton and Girdletree, 
from each of which are shipped annually about 40,000 
barrels of oysters and each of which contains a thriv- 
ing bank, canning factory and barrel factory, and also 
good schools and churches. Other growing villages 
are Newark, Bishopville, Whaleyville and Showells. 

The steady growth of Ocean City as a summer re- 
sort has made an excellent local market for truck. 

The soil of Worcester county varies from a light 
sand to a heavy clay, the majority being a splendid 
loam with some clay. The proximity of the Atlantic 
ocean and the Gulf stream makes the climate temper- 
ate. There are 1,987 farms in the county. The county 
abounds in the production of small fruits. The prin- 
cipal products of the farms are grain, wheat and 
truck. There are two large and prosperous nurseries 
in the county. 



Worcester County. 169 

From the bays of the county are taken quantities of 
the finest oysters, and the revenue from these add ma- 
terially to the prosperity of the county. Fish are 
plentiful in the bays. At Ocean City deep sea fishing 
is an extensive industry. 

There are 86 white and 20 colored schools in 
Worcester. Banking facilities are ample, the banks 
containing on deposit about $1,500,000. 

There are scattered through the county a number of 
canning factories and also 15 or 20 small sawmills, 
which supply lumber to the larger mills. 

The census of 1905 makes the following report for 
the larger industries of Worcester county : 

Number of establishments, 87. 
Capital invested, $795,117. 
Cost of materials used, $916,969. 
Value of products, $1,450,259. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Members of the Board of Public Works. 



GOVERNOR CROTHERS. 

Austin L. Crothers, Governor of Maryland, was 
born at Conowingo, Cecil County, in i860. He was 
educated in the public schools and at West Notting- 
ham Academy. For a time after his graduation at the 
academy he taught in the public schools and then 
studied law. He graduated at the law school of the 
University of Maryland in 1890 and began the prac- 
tice of his profession at Elkton. He had a natural in- 
clination toward politics and soon took an active part 
in public affairs. The next year after he graduated at 
the law school, namely in 1891, he was elected State's 
attorney for Cecil County by a large majority. In 1897 
he succeeded his brother, Charles C. Crothers, who had 
been candidate for attorney-general of Maryland in 
1895, in the Senate of Maryland. In his first session, 
that of 1898, the Senate was republican, but there was 
a strong democratic minority which was led by John 
Walter Smith, Joshua W. Hering and Mr. Crothers. 
At the next session the democrats regained the Senate, 
Mr. Smith was Governor, Dr. Hering comptroller of 
the treasury, and Senator Crothers chairman of the 
finance committee and leader of the Senate. His lead- 
ership was wise, able and unchallenged. As chairman 
of the finance committee he did admirable service for 
the State by keeping down appropriations to the utmost 
limit in his power. In 1902 and again in 1904 Mr. 
Crothers was nominated for the Senate but was de- 
feated by reason of factional differences within the 
party. All this time he was the leader of his party in 
Cecil and exerted a wide influence in the politics of the 



Governor Crothers. 171 

State. In 1906, when Judge Edwin Brown died, Gov- 
ernor Warfield appointed Mr. Crothers to succeed him 
as associate judge of the Second Circuit. Early in 
the following year he announced his intention to retire 
from the bench and not to be a candidate at the elec- 
tion of 1908. On the 8th of August, 1907, Judge 
Crothers was nominated for Governor by the Djemo- 
cratic State Convention in Baltimore. He began his 
campaign by going quietly around through the State, 
meeting the people at county fairs .and other non- 
political gatherings. On the 19th of September the 
formal notification of the candidates took place at the 
Lyric Hall in Baltimore and this was made the occa- 
sion of a great democratic meeting, over which Ex- 
Governor John Lee Carroll presided, and Senator Ray- 
ner made the notification speech. The convention 
which nominated Mr. Crothers had' adopted resolu- 
tions which contained the following: 

"Maryland offers many and great attractions to worthy and 
industrious foreigners who desire to become American citi- 
zens, and we favor energetic measures to encourage and pro- 
mote the introduction into our State of bodies of immigrants 
of good character who will actively contribute by their dili- 
gence and industry to the improvement and development of 
our agricultural resources. 

"The work of construction and improvement of our public 
roads already so well begun should be steadily kept up until, 
as the result of regular and judicious expenditure, there shall 
exist in Maryland a system of public roads as good as that to 
be found in any of our sister States." 

This plank at once attracted the attention of Mr. 
Crothers and he made up his mind to distinguish his 
administration by the improvement of the material con- 
dition of the State. In his speech at the Lyric he said : 



172 The State of Maryland. 

"I believe it is entirely practicable by wise economy and 
forethought and without increasing the burdens of the people 
to carry out a scheme of public improvements consisting 
chiefly of the establishment of good roads through every sec- 
tion of the whole State, so that every class and community of 
our people may have an equal share of them. Such a system 
of improvement would not merely add to the convenience, 
prosperity and wealth of all the people, but would be a con- 
stant and growing source of increase of the taxable basis of 
the State. It would furnish, without any advance in the rate 
of taxes, the financial resources for the continued develop- 
ment of the material interests of the people and for the 
strengthening of all the foundations of their progress." 

Mr. Crothers was taken ill at the Lyric Hall meeting 
and took no further part in the campaign. Neverthe- 
less he was elected by 8,000 majority and was inaugu- 
rated on the 8th of January, 1908. In his inaugural 
address he again adverted to the subject of the im- 
provement of the material condition of the State. He 
said: 

"I am earnestly in accord with the opinion expressed by the 
Democracy in its recent platform, that the fullest opportunity 
should be given for putting the Oyster Culture law of 1906 
into complete, practical operation, and that there should be 
no attempt of any sort to destroy or weaken its efficiency. 
Whatever legislation may be appropriate to strengthen the 
efficiency or to more fully effectuate the objects of the meas- 
ure in question ought to be supplied by the General Assembly. 

"No thoughtful citizen can fail to realize that the barren 
bottoms of the Chesapeake bay may, by assiduous cultivation, 
be converted into a vast treasury for the people of the State, 
which shall serve to supply them with food, employment and 
wealth, and which may in time furnish such revenues to the 
State as will enable it, without laying taxes on the people, to 
provide public improvements in every part of it, as well as 
other advantages to its inhabitants. 






Governor Crothers. 173 

"I desire next to approach a subject with which I shall seek 
to closely and unremittingly identify the administration which 
I am about to begin. In the speech in which I accepted the 
nomination of the Democratic party for Governor I declared : 

" 'I believe that it is entirely practicable by wise economy 
and forethought, and without increasing the burdens of the 
people, to carry out a scheme of public improvements, con- 
sisting chiefly of the establishment of good roads through 
every section of the whole State, so that every class and com- 
munity of our people may have an equal share of them. Such 
a system of improvements would not merely add to the con- 
venience, prosperity and wealth of all the people, but would 
be a constant and growing source of increase in the taxable 
basis of the State. It would furnish, without any advance in 
the rate of taxes, the financial resources for the continued 
development of the material interests of the people and for 
the strengthening of all the foundations of their progress. I 
think that the time is at hand for public men and leading cit- 
izens of Maryland to take the lead in a deliberate movement 
to make the most of the rich and magnificent resources of our 
Commonwealth. To develop them to the greatest possible 
degree and to carry the State forward along commercial, in- 
dustrial and agricultural lines until it is in the very van of the 
progress of the whole country.' 

"I reassert here and now those purposes, and as the first 
and most important step in their accomplishment a system 
of good roads, ramifying uniformly through every section of 
the State, should be established. We should take this up as 
a prime object of our policy, and we should consummate it 
as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible. 

"The Court of Appeals of the State has decided that such 
a work is constitutionally feasible and that the State may 
pledge its credit to effect it. The first step will be the pro- 
vision of finances for the undertaking. There is no reason 
why the State, which is now out of debt, should not issue 
bonds to defray the immediate expenses of such a scheme of 
public improvements. This has been done in other States 
with the most beneficial and satisfactory results. As sug- 
gested in the above quotation from my speech of acceptance, 



174 The State of Maryland. 

the issuance of such bonds would not really impose any sub- 
stantial burdens of taxation upon the people, because the 
improvements themselves traversing every part of the State, 
would so enhance the value of property that there would 
practically be no additional burden by way of taxes upon any 
body." 

In carrying out the policy here outlined the Gov- 
ernor gave his hearty cooperation with the General 
Assembly in formulating the admirable road law of 
the State under which the work of highway improve- 
ment was begun and which appropriates $5,000,000 for 
the purpose. 

His experience in public office as State's attorney, as 
State senator and as judge admirably equipped Mr. 
Crothers for the duties of the executive office. He 
knew how to gain the confidence of the Legislature 
and he exerted a strong influence over it which was 
always directed to the enactment of good laws and in 
opposition to bad ones. 

In 1908 he was sent by the democratic party as a 
delegate to the National Convention at Denver and 
there he succeeded in incorporating in the national 
platform of his party his views upon the improvement 
of highways or post roads by federal aid. 

Governor Crothers is unmarried and resides in Elk- 
ton. 



Comptroller Hering. 175 



JOSHUA W. HERING. 

The Hon. Joshua W. Hering, A. M., M. D., LL. D., 
was born in that part of Frederick County which is 
now included in Carroll County, on March 8, 1833. He 
was educated in the public schools; studied medicine 
in the University of Maryland by which he was grad- 
uated in 1855. He engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession in Westminster and was shortly recognized as 
the leading physician in the town. In 1867 ne was 
elected cashier of the Union National Bank of West- 
minster and has ever since been a banker and financier. 
Dr. Hering steadily refused to engage in politics until 
1895. There was that year a political landslide. Near- 
ly every county in the State gave republican majorities. 
For the first time a republican Governor was elected. 
The Senate, by reason of a number of hold-over sen- 
ators was democratic by a majority of one vote. The 
House was strongly republican. Just after the election 
the democratic senator from Carroll died, leaving the 
Senate a tie between the two parties. Whichever par- 
ty elected the senator from Carroll would control the 
Senate. Carroll county had just given a heavy repub- 
lican majority and the democrats appealed to Dr. Her- 
ing to take the nomination. It was represented to him 
that if he did not do so there would be no check upon 
the republican party. He reluctantly consented and 
some of the strong independents who had supported 
the republican ticket at the November election, went to 
Carroll and made speeches for Dr. Hering and he was 
elected. That was the beginning of his political career. 
In the Senate he exercised a strong influence and al- 
ways for good legislation and good methods. He 



176 The State of Maryland. 

served in the sessions of 1896 and 1898. In 1899 he 
was nominated for comptroller of the treasury and was 
re-elected two years later. To the comptroller's office 
he brought a ripe experience in financial affairs and 
conducted the finances of the State with admirable 
judgment and complete success. In 1903 he declined 
the nomination. In 1907 his party again needing his 
services, he was nominated for Comptroller and 
elected by a large majority. Dr. Hering, in the four 
campaigns he has made, has distinguished himself 
as a vote-getter and greatly commended himself to 
the people of the State. 

In 1885, Western Maryland College gave him the 
degree of Master of Arts and in 1900, St. John's Col- 
lege that of Doctor of Laws. In 1899 he was elected 
president of the Maryland Bankers' Association. 

Dr. Hering's activities have not been confined to 
political and business affairs. He has been equally 
active and eminent in educational, charitable and 
religious work. In 1892 he was elected president of 
the General Conference of the Methodist Protestant 
Church and was re-elected to that high office in 1896. 
He is the only layman upon whom this honor has ever 
been conferred. He justified his election by presiding 
over the General Conference with dignity and dis- 
tinguished ability. Dr. Hering is a member of the 
Board of Governors of Westminster Theological Sem- 
inary and of the Methodist Protestant Church Home. 

On June 17, 1908, a portrait of Dr. Hering was 
unveiled at Western Maryland College and a banquet 
was given to him by the Trustees. He is the only 
living charter member of the Board of Trustees of the 
college, and the banquet was given to him in recog- 



Comptroller Hering. 177 

nition of his long and valuable service as a trustee. 
He is now and has been for many years president of 
the board. 

Gathered at this banquet to do honor to Dr. Hering 
were the Governor of Maryland, State and county 
officials and many warm friends from various parts 
of the State. In response to the warm tributes which 
he received on that occasion, Dr. Hering said he had 
always tried to lead a plain and simple life. Possibly 
as a result of this manner of living the years seem to 
pass him by. He is respected and beloved by a great 
circle of personal friends and by the great body of his 
fellow-citizens. 

Dr. Hering is married and has two sons, namely, 
Dr. Joseph T. Hering, a practitioner of medicine in 
Baltimore, and Charles E. Hering, Deputy Fire Mar- 
shal of the State. His daughters are Mrs. Thomas 
A. Murray, of Baltimore, and Mrs. Frank Z. Miller, 
of Westminster. 



i?8 The State of Maryland. 



HON. MURRAY VANDIVER. 

Gen. Murray Vandiver was born in 1845 at Havre 
de Grace, Md. He is the son of the late Robert R. 
Vandiver, a descendant of some of the first settlers of 
Delaware. He was educated in the public schools of 
Harford County, and Havre de Grace Academy, and 
graduated from a business college in Poughkeepsie, 
N. Y., in 1864. He early engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness in Havre de Grace. He was elected a member of 
the House of Delegates of Maryland in 1876, 1878, 
1880 and 1892, and was Speaker of the House in 1892. 
He was a member of the National Democratic Con- 
vention of 1892, which nominated Cleveland; of 1896, 
which nominated Bryan the first time; a Delegate-at- 
Large to the National Democratic Convention of 1900, 
and a Delegate-at-Large and Chairman of the Delega- 
tion to the National Democratic Convention in 1904, 
which nominated Parker, and again Delegate-at-Large 
to the Denver Convention of 1908 and Chairman of 
the Delegation. At all these conventions, as Chairman 
of the Democratic State Committee, he had full charge 
of all the arrangements for the delegation. He per- 
formed this difficult work with infinite credit. From 
1888 to 1897 Mr. Vandiver was Secretary and Treas- 
urer of the Democratic State Central Committee, and 
in 1897 became Chairman of the committee. He was 
re-appointed Chairman of the committee by Colonel L. 
Victor Baughman in August, 1899, with the full con- 
currence of the State Convention, which position he 
now holds. As Chairman of the Democratic State 
Central Committee Mr. Vandiver conducted the re- 
organization primary campaign in Baltimore City in 



Treasurer Vandiver. 179 

the fall of 1898, which resulted in the precinct organ- 
ization of Baltimore City. Mr. Vandiver managed the 
State campaign in 1899, which restored the Democratic 
party to power in the State, as well as exercised an 
influence in his advisory capacity in the municipal 
campaign in Baltimore City in the spring of 1899, 
which restored the Democratic party to power in the 
city. From July, 1893, to October 1, 1897, Mr. Van- 
diver was Collector of Internal Revenue for the 
District of Maryland, District of Columbia and Dela- 
ware and two counties of Virginia, being appointed by 
President Cleveland and serving at the time of the 
preparation for the collection of the income tax. Mr. 
Vandiver resigned as Collector of Internal Revenue 
to take effect October 1, 1897, and upon his retire- 
ment was highly complimented by the Commissioner 
of Internal Revenue upon the very efficient and satis- 
factory condition of his office, the national administra- 
tion at that time being Republican. On January 11, 
1900, Mr. Vandiver was elected Treasurer of the State 
of Maryland, receiving the entire vote of his party 
in both the Senate and House in open session and 
without a party caucus, which office he now fills, 
having been elected at the sessions of the General 
Assembly of 1902, 1904, 1906 and 1908, without oppo- 
sition in his own party. Mr. Vandiver was appointed 
on the staff of Governor Robert M. McLane with the 
rank of Colonel, and on the staff of Governor John 
Walter Smith with the rank of Brigadier-General. He 
is a director in the First National Bank of Havre de 
Grace, Third National Bank of Baltimore, the 
Commonwealth Bank of Baltimore and the American 
Bonding Company of Baltimore, the National Bank 



180 The State of Maryland. 

at Port Deposit, a director in the Delaware Railroad 
and was one of the World's Fair Commissioners for 
the State of Maryland appointed by Governor Brown 
in 1892. He is a director in nearly all the incorpor- 
ated companies located at Havre de Grace, and was 
Mayor of the city in 1885 and 1886. He wrote the 
charter which incorporated Havre de Grace as a city 
in 1878. 

General Vandiver was a member of the commission 
which built the beautiful Court of Appeals Building, 
at Annapolis, and also of that which built the annex 
to the State House. During his long term in the office 
of State Treasurer his office has been a model, and 
he has conducted the financial affairs of the State, 
which pertained to his office, with sound judgment 
and complete success. He has all the qualities of head 
and heart which make men popular. His disposition is 
generous and obliging and his friends abound in every 
part of Marlyand and beyond its borders. His man- 
agement of the Democratic organization in the various 
campaigns has nearly always been crowned with suc- 
cess. In the multiplicity of his public and political 
duties he finds time to conduct a beautiful and fertile 
farm on Spesutia Island. He spends his leisure hours 
with his family in Havre de Grace, to whom he is 
tenderly devoted. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Statistics of Population. 



POPULATION BY COUNTIES. 



Federal 

Counties. Census, 
1900. 

Allegany 53,694 

Anne Arundel 40,018 

Balto. county 90,755 

Calvert 10,223 

Caroline 16,248 

Carroll 33,86o 

Cecil 24,662 

Charles 18,316 

Dorchester 27,962 

Frederick 51,920 

Garrett 17,701 

Harford 28,269 

Howard 16,715 



Counties. 



Federal 

Census, 

1900. 

Kent 18,786 

Montgomery 30,451 

Prince George's 29,898 

Queen Anne's 18,364 

Somerset 25,923 

St. Mary's 18,136 

Talbot 20,342 

Washington 45J33 

Wicomico 22,852 

Worcester 20,865 



County totals 681,093 

Baltimore city.... 508,957 
State total 1,190,050 



Census 
Years. 

1900 

l800 

1880 

1870 

i860 

1850 



Popu- 
lation. 



, Increase < 

Number. Per Ct. 



508,957 
434,439 
332,313 
267,354 

212,418 

169,054 



74,518 

102,126 

64,959 
54,936 
43,364 
66,741 



65.2 



Popu- 
lation. 



POPULATION OF BALTIMORE CITY, I79O TO 

Census 
Years. 

17.2 184O 
3O.7 183O 

24.3 l820 
25.9 l8lO 
25.7 l800 



1790 



102,313 
80,620 
62,738 

46,555 
26,514 

13,503 



1900. 

, Increase 

Number. PerCt. 

21,693 

17,882 

16,183 

20,041 

13,011 



26.9 
28.5 
348 
75-6 
96.4 



The males of voting age in Baltimore in 1900 num- 
bered 141,271. Of these 7.2 per cent, were illiterate. 
Native-born males of voting age numbered 111,181 
and 6.3 per cent, illiterate. Foreign-born males of 
voting age numbered 30,090 and 104 per cent, of them 



182 The State of Maryland. 

illiterate. The negro males of voting age were 22,2$j 
and 26.8 per cent, illiterate. 

The population of the State in 1900 was more than 
three times as large as that given for 1790, the year in 
which the first United States census was taken. 



Census 


Popu- 


, In ere 


ase . 


Census 


Popu- 


, Increase * 


Years. 


lation. 


Number. 


PerCt. 


Years. 


lation. 


Number. 


PerCt. 


I9OO ] 


•,l88,044 


147,660 


14.2 


1840 


470,019 


22,979 


5-1 


189O 1 


,042,390 


107,447 


1 1.5 


183O 


447,040 


39,690 


9-7 


1880 


934,943 


154,049 


197 


182O 


407,350 


26,804 


7.0 


1870 


780,894 


93,845 


137 


l8lO 


380,546 


38,998 


II.4 


i860 


687,049 


104,015 


17.8 


1800 


341,548 


21,820 


6.8 


1850 


583,034 


H3,OI5 


24.O 


1790 


319,728 







In the year 1900 the total foreign -born population 
of Maryland was 93,934. The persons of foreign par- 
entage numbered 272,321 white and 1,406 colored in- 
habitants. 

NEGROES IN MARYLAND. 

The negro population of Maryland, by counties, in 
1900 was as follows : 



Allegany , 

Anne Arundel. 

Baltimore 

Baltimore city. 

Calvert 

Caroline 

Carroll 

Cecil 

Charles 

Dorchester 

Frederick 

Garrett 

Harford 

Howard 



Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


1,669 


837 


832 


15,367 


8,054 


7,313 


II,6l8 


5,066 


5,652 


79,258 


35,063 


44,195 


5,143 


2,725 


2,418 


4,237 


2,l62 


2,075 


2,143 


1,027 


Iyll6 


3,805 


2,026 


1,779 


9,648 


5,0-54 


4,594 


9,484 


4,847 


4,637 


6,012 


2,921 


3,091 


126 


63 


63 


5,854 


3P54 


2,800 


4,405 


2,277 


2,128 



Negro Population. 



183 



Kent 

Montgomery . . . 
Prince George's , 
Queen Anne's . . 

St. Mary's 

Somerset 

Talbot 

Washington 

Wicomico* 

Worcester 



Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


7,442 


3,962 


3,480 


I0,O54 


5,088 


4,966 


H,985 


6,405 


5,580 


6,372 


3,38l 


2,991 


8,256 


4,325 


3,931 


9,533 


4,934 


4,599 


7,466 


3,88o 


3,586 


2,488 


1,173 


1,315 


5,828 


2,960 


2,868 


6,871 


3,433 


3,438 



Totals 235,064 115,617 119,447 

In Maryland 35.1 per cent, of the negroes were 
illiterate in 1900. 

The negro population of cities and towns in Mary- 
land having 2,500 to 25,000 inhabitants in 1890 and 
1900 was as follows : 



1900. 1890. 

Annapolis 3,002 2,914 

Cambridge 1,958 1,440 

Chestertown 1,220 1,121 

Crisfield 799 

Cumberland 1,100 962 

Easton 1,024 1,143 

Elkton 516 



1900. 1890. 

Frederick .1,535 1,576 

Frostburg 2^6 214 

Hagerstown ^,^77 1,012 

Havre de Grace. . 563 709 

Salisbury 1,006 822 

Westminster 355 375 



Figures compiled from the Federal census of 1900 
give the following totals of the population of the State : 

Total population 1,188,044 

Males 589,275 

Females 589,769 



Native born 1,094,110 

Foreign born 93,934 

Total white 952,424 



Native white 859,280 

Negroes 235,064 

Chinese 544 

Japanese 9 

Indians, taxed 3 



184 



The State of Maryland. 



URBAN POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 

From the United States census of 1900 there are 98 
incorporated cities, towns and villages in Maryland. 
Of these there are 18 which had a population in 1900 
of more than 2,000, and of these 11 had less than 
5,000 ; 4 more than 5,000 and less than 10,000. There 
were 3 which had more than 10,000, namely, Baltimore, 
with 508,957; Cumberland, with 17,128; Hagerstown, 
with 13,591 inhabitants. 



Cities, Towns 
and Villages. 

Aberdeen . . . 
Annapolis . . 
Baltimore ... 
Barnesville . 

Belair 

Berlin 

Bishopville . 
Bladensburg 
Bloomington 
Boonsboro . . 

Bowie 

Bridgetown . 
Brookeville . 
Brunswick . . 
Burkittsville 
Cambridge . , 
Cecilton 
Centreville . . 
Charlestown 
Chesapeake . 
Chestertown 
Church Hill. 
Clear Spring 

Crisfield 

Crumpton . . . 
Cumberland 



, — Population — - 

1900. 1890. 

600 448 

8,402 7,604 

508,957 434,439 

125 

961 1,416 

1,246 974 

243 275 
463 503 
395 295 
700 766 

443 

SO 

. 158 

• 2,471 

229 273 

. 5,747 4,192 

447 485 

. 1,231 1,309 

244 228 
. 1,172 1,155 
. 3,008 2,632 
. 368 596 

474 

. 3,165 1,565 

207 317 

. 17,128 12,729 



Cities, Towns 
and Villages. 

Hillsboro 

Hurlock 

Hyattstown . . 
Hyattsville . . . 
Keedysville . . 
Kensington . . 

Laurel 

Laytonsville . . 
Leonardtown.. 
LochLynn Hts. 
Lonaconing . . 
Manchester . . 
Middletown . . 
Millington . . . 
Mt. Lake Pk. 

Mt. Airy 

New Windsor. 
Northeast . . . 

Oakland 

Ocean City . . . 

Oxford 

Perryville . . . 
Piscataway . . . 
Pocomoke . . . 
Poolesville . . . 
Port Deposit.. 



< — Population 
1900. 

196 



1890. 
174 



280 

8l 

1,222 

426 

477 
2,079 
148 
454 
215 
2,181 
609 
665 
406 
260 
432 
430 

969 
1,170 

365 

1,243 

770 

95 

2,124 

236 

i,575 



1,509 
420 

1,984 



521 



273 
667 

485 



414 

1,249 

1,046 

85 

i,i35 

344 

1,866 
1,908 



Towns and Villages. 



185 



Cities, Towns 
and Villages. 

Damascus . . . 
Darlington . .. 
Deer Park. . . 

Delmar 

Denton 

E. N. Market. 

Easton 

Elkton 

Ellicott City.. 
Emmitsburg . 
Federalsburg 
Frederick .... 
Frostburg . . . 
Funkstown . . 
Gaithersburg 
Garrett Park. 
Girdletree . . . 
Grantsville . • 
Greensboro . . 
Hagerstown .. 
Hampstead . . 
Hancock .... 
HavredeGrace 



—Population — < 



1900. 

148 

260 

293 

659 

900 

1,267 

3,074 

2,542 

1,331 

849 

539 

9,296 

5,274 
559 
547 
175 
336 

175 
641 

13,591 

480 

824 

3,423 



1890. 



239 
179 



641 



2,939 
2,318 
1,488 
844 
543 
8,193 
3,804 



902 

10,118 

521 

815 

3,244 



Cities, Towns 
and Villages. 

Preston 

Princess Anne 
Queenstown 

Ridgely 

Rising Sun. 
Rockville . . 
St. Michaels 
Salisbury . . 
Sharpsburg 
Sharptown . 
Smithsburg 
Snow Hill. . 
Sudlersville 
Takoma .... 
Taneytown . 
Thurmont . 

Trappe 

Union Bridge 

Up. Marlboro 

Walkersville. 

Westernport. 

Westminster 

Wiilliamsport 



865 



, — Population — ■ 
1906. 1890. 

192 

854 

374 

713 

382 
1,110 
1,043 
4,277 
1,030 

529 

462 

i,596 

221 

756 

665 

868 

279 

663 

449 

359 
1,998 

3,199 
1,472 



215 

384 

i,568 

1,329 

2,905 

1,163 

427 

487 
1,483 
125 
164 
566 

251 
743 
439 

255 
1,526 

2,903 
1,277 



The towns of Maryland are as a rule situated in 
healthy localities. Many of them are on tributaries 
of the Chesapeake. Manufacturing industries exist in 
most of them and the labor to be had is intelligent and 
contented. All the towns and cities are well supplied 
with schools, churches and other institutions, and they 
offer great inducements to settlers who have trades or 
to capital desirous of embarking in manufacturing en- 
terprises. 



i86 



The State of Maryland. 



ALTITUDES IN MARYLAND. 

Elevations of Points in Maryland, Grouped by 

Counties. 

Compiled by the Maryland Geological Survey from 
Best Available Data. 



Localities. 



ALLEGANY COUNTY. 
Elevation 



in Feet. 

Cumberland 688 

Dan's Rock 2,898 

Frostburg 1,929 



Localities. 



Elevation 
in Feet. 



Mt. Savage. 



Westernport 1,000 

Piney Grove 937 

Flintstone 828 



1,198 Oldfcown 564 



ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 



Annapolis 40 

Marriott Hill 240 

Davidsonville 185 

Owensville 182 



Odenton 160 

Jewell 160 

Friendship 150 

Glenburnie 55 



BALTIMORE CITY. 



City Hall 20 

High Serv. Reservoir. . . 350 

Druid Hill Pk. (M. H) 320 

J. H. U. site, Car. Mam 245 

Mt. Royal Reservoir. . 155 

Hotel Altamont (street) 170 



Pat. Pk. Observatory. . 

J. H. Hospital 

Wash. Monument, base 
Carroll Pk. (M. H.).. 
Fort McHenry 



BALTIMORE COUNTY. 



Towson (C. H.) . . . 

Reisterstown 

St. Thomas Church. 

Pikesville 

Catonsville 

Chattolanee Hotel . . , 

Long Green 

Fork 



465 
735 
650 
5i6 
5io 
5io 
500 
420 



Parkton 

Cockeysville . 
Lake Roland. 
Lochraven . . . 
Relay Viaduct. 
Bradshaw 
North Point. 



125 
105 
100 

95 
30 



420 
280 
225 
170 

7i 

40 
20 



Altitudes in Maryland. 



187 



CALVERT COUNTY. 



localities. 

Prince Frederick. 
Mt. Harmony. . . , 
Port Republic. . . , 
Bowens , 



Elevation 
in Feet. 



Localities. 



Elevation 
in Feet. 



150 
l8l 
160 
160 



Parran 136 

Chesapeake Beach 20 

Lower Marlboro 20 



CAROLINE COUNTY. 



Denton ( 42 

Marydell 63 



Federalsburg 42 

Greensboro 41 



CARROLL COUNTY. 



Westminster 774 

Manchester 1,107 

Hampstead 913 

Bachman's Valley 860 



Sykesville 600 

Finksburg 545 

Taneytown 490 



CECIL COUNTY. 



Elkton 29 

Rock Spring 540 

Woodlawn 465 

Calvert 441 

Rising Sun 387 



Gray's Hill 268 

Cecilton 80 

Queenstown 18 

Port Deposit 16 



CHARLES COUNTY. 



La Plata 190 

Hughesville 193 

Patuxent 184 



Chapel Point 150 

Indian Head 100 

Port Tobacco 50 



DORCHESTER COUNTY. 



Cambridge 
Vienna . . . 



20 
14 



Church Creek. 
Drawbridge . . 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 



Frederick 300 

Sugar Loaf Mountain.. 1,250 
Thurmont 515 



Monocacy Bridge 329 

Point of Rocks 229 



i88 



The State of Maryland. 



Localities. 



GARRETT COUNTY. 

Elevation 
in Feet. 



Localities. 



Elevation 
in Feet. 



Oakland 2,461 

Backbone Mt 3,700 

Table Rock 3,700 

Altamont 2,632 

Accident 2,395 



Deer Park Hotel 2,480 

Mountain Lake Park... 2,450 

Grantsville 2,351 

Friendsville 1,501 

Bloomington 1,000 



HARFORD COUNTY. 



Belair 396 

Madonna 748 

Darlington 333 



Aberdeen 

Perryman 

Havre de Grace, 



79 
60 

35 



HOWARD COUNTY. 



Ellicott City 233 

Clarksville 488 

West Friendship 476 



Marriottsville 300 

Woodstock 258 

Savage 220 



KENT COUNTY. 



Chestertown 22 

Blacks 80 

Stillpond 70 

Massey 64 



Sassafras . . 
Millington . 
Edesville . . 
Georgetown 



34 
27 
24 

5 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



Rockville 450 

Poplar Springs 800 

Clarksburg 800 



Gaithersburg 500 

Dickerson 350 

Cabin John Bridge 100 



PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY. 



Upper Marlboro 39 

Brandywine 293 

Accokeek 200 

Aquasco 158 

Laurel 150 

Bowie 149 



Fort Washington 120 

Beltsville no 

Hyattsville 40 

Queen Anne 28 

Pope's Creek 20 



Centrevitle . 
Sudlersville 
Church Hill. 



59 

65 

60 

Queen Anne 35 



QUEEN ANNE S COUNTY. 

Kent Island. 
Crumpton . , 
Chesapeake . 



20 
20 
17 



Altitudes in Maryland. 



189 



Localities. 

Princess Anne. . . 

Eden 

Wellington 



SOMERSET COUNTY. 

Elevation 
in Feet. 



Localities. 



Elevation 
in Feet. 



18 
30 
27 



Costen . . 
Peninsula 
Kingston 



21 



Junction 14 

8 



ST. 



Leonardtown 100 

Newmarket 172 

Mechanicsville 165 

Jarboesville no 

Park Hall 100 



MARYS COUNTY. 

Morganza 
Ridge ... 



71 

42 

Valley Lee 4^ 

Chaptico 20 



TALBOT COUNTY. 



Easton 30 

Wye Mills 60 

Trappe 55 



Oxford 

St. Michaels. 



WICOMICO COUNTY. 



Salisbury 23 

Parsonsburg 80 

Pittsville 60 

Delmar 57 



Mardela Springs. 

Sharptown 

Quantico 

Allen 



11 
10 



27 
20 
20 
n 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Hagerstown 552 

Mt. Qairauk 2,400 

High Rock 2,000 

Blue Ridge Summit.... 1,411 
Blue Mountain House. . 1,200 



Fort Frederick 470 

Hancock 488 

Sharpsburg 400 

Maryland Heights 1,300 

Sideling Hill 1,593 



WORCESTER COUNTY. 



Whitehaven 5 

Snow Hill 21^ 

Longridge 51 

Berlin 45 

Stockton 33 



Whiteburg 30 

Bishopville 23 

Greenbackville 10 

Pocomoke 8 



190 The Staof Maryland. 

This table shows at a gia. H 

° PAGE 

country in the different sections 01 n* 163 

lands of the western counties; the elevatea"^"' 'W I45 
Central Maryland, with its beautiful rolling country 
and wooded ridges and fertile valleys; the level lands 
of the Eastern Shore, together with the somewhat 
higher elevations of Southern Maryland on the west- 
ern side of the bay. 

The highest elevation — 3,700 feet — is on the Back- 
bone mountain of Garrett county. Next in order are 
the altitudes of Allegany and Washington counties; 
then Frederick and Montgomery. Carroll, Harford, 
Howard and Baltimore are in a section of rolling coun- 
try, well elevated, with some localities ranging from 
400 to 1,000 feet in altitude. In Southern Maryland 
there are fairly good elevations in Anne Arundel, 
Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's. In 
the nine counties of the Eastern Shore there is a grad- 
ual falling off in the elevations from Cecil to Wor- 
cester. 



Inde* 



M 
Bureau of Im" 

fUm- 



1NDEX. 



A 

PAGE 

Agriculture 28 

Products 28 

Allegany County 118 

Coal Mining 119 

Manufactures 119 

Railroads 119 

Altitudes 186 

Animal Life 29 

Annapolis 93 

Anne Arundel 85 

Anne Arundel County 120 

Farms and Crops 122 

Manufactures 123 

Oysters and Fish 122 

Transportation 122 

Antietam, Battle of 22 

Appalachian Region 18 

Area of Counties 20 

Ark and Dove 21 

Austrians in Anne Arundel 85 

B 

Baltimore County 123 

Agriculture 124 

Dairies 125 

Factories 126 

Schools 126 

Stone and Minerals 125 

Transportation 125 

Baltimore, Situation 106 

Commerce 107 

Docks in 

Exports and Imports 109 

Fire of 1904 115 

Manufactures 106 

Steamship Lines 107 

Vantage Ground 113 

Baltimore- Washington Road 76 

Boundary of Maryland 13 

Boundary Stones 14 

Brooks, Prof. W. K 55 



C 

PAGE 

Calico Rock 40 

Calvert County 132 

Oyster Grounds 133 

Capital of Md 93 

Carnegie, Andrew 92 

Caroline County 85, 135 

Carroll County 127 

Banks 129 

Churches 128 

Factories 129 

Railroads 128 

Schools 128 

Soils and Stone 127 

Cecil County 130 

Factories 131 

Farms and Railroads 131 

Schools 130 

Cement 42, 163 

Charles County. 85, 133 

Chesapeake Bay 53 

Chesapeake Bay, Fish, &c 29 

Chestertown 151 

Chrome 43, 145 

Civil War 22 

Clays 34 

Climate 15 

Coal, Men Employed 79 

Coal Tonnage 79 

Coals 33, 119 

Coastal Plain 17 

Compulsory Education 89 

Constitutions 24 

Consumptives of Md., Hospital... 83 

Counties, How Formed 19 

Areas 20 

Units of Territory 21 

County Assessment 31 

County Commissioners 27 

County Officials 26 

Crabs 59, 61, 138 

Crisfield 157 



192 



The State of Maryland. 



c 

PAGE 

Crop Production 52 

Crosby, W. W 75 

Crothers, Governor, Roads 63 

Crothers, Governor, Sketch 170 

Cumberland 120 

D 

Danes in Charles County 85 

Docks of Baltimore in 

Dorchester County 136 

Crabbers 138 

Farms 137 

Oysters 137 

Tomatoes 138 

E 

Education, Compulsory 89 

Educational System 88 

Election Supervisors 27 

F 

Farms and Products 2? 

Finances of Maryland 39 

Fish, Annual Catch 62 

Fish Commission n 

Fisheries 59 

Fire, Baltimore 115 

Flora and Fauna 29 

Forestry Commission n 

Frederick City 139 

Frederick County 138 

Churches and Schools 139 

Farms and Factories 140 

Railroads 140 

Fruit and Flora 12 

G 

Garrett County 141 

Minerals 142 

Surface and Soil 142 

General Assembly 24 

Geology 32 

Geological Survey, Personnel. 4, 10, 77 

Highway Work 79 

Highways n 

Government House 102 



H 

PAGE 

Hagerstown 163 

Harford County 145 

Farms and Industries 145 

Wild Fowl 146 

Hering, Joshua W 175 

Highways Division n 

Highway Improvement 63 

Hollanders 85 

Howard County 146 

Railroads 148 

Stone 147 

I 

Immigration, Bureau of 3, 84 

Immigration to Maryland 84 

Indian Head 133 

Industrial Statistics, Bureau of. . . . 4 

Iron Ores 37 

J 

Judicial System 25 

Justices of the Peace 27 

K 

Kaolin 35 

Kent County. 148 

Crops 149 

Towns 149 

Key, F. S 22 

King William's School- 89 

L 

Land, Poor 86 

Lands, Low Price 86 

Legislature 24 

Libraries 9 2 

Lime 4 2 

M 

Marble 39 

Marl 36 

Maryland — Departments 3 

Altitudes 186 

Appalachian Region 18 

Assessment for Taxes 31 

Attractions 7 



Index. 



193 



M 

PAGE 

Bureau of Immigration 84 

Climate 9 

Climate 15 

Coastal Plain 17 

Crab Production 52 

Drainage 13 

Early Settlers 23 

Financial Condition 30 

Government 24 

Government House 102 

History 21 

Judicial System 25 

Location and Area 12 

Mineral Wealth 32 

Negroes in 182 

Officials 24 

Peninsula of 87 

Physical Improvement 11 

Piedmont Plateau 17 

Population, by Counties.... 20 

Population, by Periods 21 

Public Buildings 94 

Rain and Winds 16 

Religious Center 23 

Road Improvement 63 

Settlement 21 

Soils 45 

Statistics, Population 1S1 

Towns 185 

Tuberculosis Hospital 80 

Urban Population 184 

Virginia Boundary 14 

Weather Service 80 

23 Counties 19 

Maryland Line 22 

Maryland Steel Co no 

Mason and Dixon's Line 13 

McDonogh School 91 

Menhaden Fish 60 

Methodists, First 24 

Mineral Paint 37 

Minerals 32 

Minerals, Annual Output 78 



M 

PAGE 

Molding Sand 36 

Monocacy, Battle of 22 

Montgomery County 151 

N 

Naval Academy 94, 103 

Negro Population 182 

O 

Officials, County 26 

State 26 

Orphans' Court 27 

Oyster Planting 56 

Culture Law 57 

Industry 58 

Survey 58 

P 

Paint, Mineral 37 

Parr's Ridge t8 

Patapsco River no 

Peggy Stewart 97 

Pension, Teachers 91 

Piedmont Plateau 17 

Population by Counties 20 

by Periods 21 

Tables 1S1, 182, 183 

Porcelain Material 35 

Preface 5 

Presbyterian First Church 24 

Prince George's County 153 

Farms, &c 154 

Property Values 31 

Public Works, Board of ..3, 26 

Q 

Queen Anne's County 155 

Packing 156 

Towns 155 

R 

Rain .... 16 

Red Lands 48 

Religious Center 23 

Revolution 22 

Rivers 54 

Road Commission 3, 64 



194 



The State of Maryland. 



R 



PAGE 

Road Improvement 63 

Baltimore-Washington 76 

Fund, Apportionment 75 

Law, 1 908 65 

Law, Shoemaker 73 

Loan 64 

Rocks 32 

Rockville 152 



Salisbury 164 

Sand 35 

Sandstones 4 1 

Schools 88 

School Commissioners 28 

Senate Chamber, Old 99 

Settlers, Early 23 

Shad Fisheries 59 

Shawbridge, Robert 24 

Shell Fish Commission 11, 57 

Shoemaker Road Law 73 

Silica 37 

Slate 40 

Smith, Senator John Walter 81 

Snow Hill 168 

Soils 45 

Somerset County 157 

Products J 57 

South Mountain, Battle of 22 

Sparrows Point no 

St. John's College 89, 104 

St. Mary's County 1.58 

Farms and Products 159 

Stamp Act 96 

Star-Spangled Banner 22 

State House 98 

State Road Funds 75 

State Road Law 65 



,> 



PAGE 

State Tuberculosis Sanatorium .... 80 

Statues, Taney and de Kalb 105 

Steamship Lines 107 

Stewart, Peggy 97 

Stone Building 38 

Survey of the Oyster Beds 58 



Talbot County 85, 160 

Teachers' Pension 91 

Temperature, Average 15 

Terrapin 61 

Tomatoes in Dorchester 138 

Towns 185 

Towson 1 24 

Tripoli 37 

Tuberculosis Sanatorium 80 

U 

United States Naval Academy .... 94 

Urban Population 184 



Vandiver, Murray 178 

W 

War of 1812 22 

War field, Governor 82, 100 

Washington County 162 

Water Fowl 55 

Weather Service 80 

Westminster 129 

Wheat Crop of State 28 

Frederick County 141 

Wicomico County 164 

Williams, H. T 87 

Winds 16 

Worcester County 162 



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PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, L P 
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Cranberry Township, PA 16066 

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